There was a time when a farmstand meant one of three things: tomatoes, pumpkins, or boiled peanuts (depending on the season). You pulled over, handed someone $10–$20 in cash, and drove home and made a salad or whatever.
Those days are over, friends. Mostly because you can’t buy squat for $10–$20, but also because the farmstand has evolved. This ain’t your grandma’s farmstand. Not that your grandma ever had a farmstand. Mine didn’t, just Menthol Lights and a Buick.
Anyways, the point is, you can now do a food shop for the holidays without ever entering a grocery store. We are in the golden age of cutesy retail establishments, where you can pull into somebody’s driveway in NC without getting shot and leave with a latte and a cinnamon roll. A new age is upon us.
If you are looking for some interesting places to do your holiday treat shopping in Southern Wake, I’ve done the research for you. It’s absolutely not comprehensive, so if your wife has a farmstand that’s not listed below, she should consider a better social media presence, Mark. I’ve also got a real job that doesn’t involve hunting down public fridges, so I’m sure if you dig deep enough, you’ll uncover more delicious jewels.
Galileo & Goose
First up is a Fuquay-Varina farmstand at @oakandcottonhouse, which TikTok tells me is an 1880s farmhouse. It’s probably haunted with tortured souls, but it’s cute, so …
Inside an aesthetic little teal refrigerator on the property, you may find lattes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, elderberry syrup for the hippies in your life, everything blend sourdough, simmer pots, and more.
This is the kind of place where you go in thinking, “I’ll just grab a cinnamon roll,” and you leave fat as hell.
Selah & Serve
Then there’s Selah & Serve, which sounds like the name of a Christian summer camp but is actually another place where you can apparently get half your holiday pantry handled.
We’re talking mini mocha java chips, oatmeal cream pies, sourdough pancake mix, vegetable soup mix, and such and so forth. This is also a great place for those of you who have reinvented yourselves after a nasty breakup and discovered sourdough.
You know who you are.
I found them on TikTok at @thehomemakershustle.
Baked by Alison
Over in Holly Springs, there’s @bakedbyalison, who I also discovered on TikTok. Being chronically online has its perks!
If you have a person on your Christmas list who would rather receive baked goods than literally anything else, this is the move. Flowers die, gift cards are impersonal, and nothing says “I got you something really special” quite like, “I found this in a refrigerator next to someone’s house.”
Full disclosure: The last farmstand stocking seems to have been a couple of months ago, so if I’ve led you astray, then oh well. Pick another one.
Morgan’s Farmstand
Then there’s @morgans.farmstand in Fuquay-Varina. Inside you might find eggs, banana spice muffins, seasoning salt, pumpkin pie coffee syrup, homemade scented candles, and handmade keychains. If you arrive and these are not available, don’t get your panties in a bunch; I’m writing this in early October. This is the perfect stop if you have no idea what to get someone and want to buy three things and call it a gift basket. Happy Holidays.
Needmore Farms
Of course, no fall shopping list in Fuquay-Varina would be complete without @needmorefarms, at 6502 Sunset Lake Road. Needmore is less “tiny refrigerator in someone’s yard” and more full-blown seasonal destination, with trees and wreaths, produce when in season, flowers, décor, and gifts. The farm is particularly good at turning itself into a giant autumnal wonderland every year.
You go for one pumpkin and leave with six, plus a mum that will 100% die in two weeks.
Holl & Stone Farms
If you’re willing to venture into Garner (Godspeed), @hollandstone is where the farmstand concept basically said, “What if we just became an entire lifestyle for these rich city folk?”
This place has a farm market, plant nursery, ice cream, coffee, beer and wine, plus chickens, goats, and alpacas (I was watching a video and I’m dumb, so that might have been a llama). You can call it holiday shopping, or you can just go get drunk and pet an animal. Either way, it’s a win.
There you have it. Support local. Buy weird little things. Eat the cinnamon roll. Prepare to spend what’s left of your life savings (after gas). I never said it was cheap.
Happy holidays, y’all.
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