Immersive is the style du jour, from Denver’s psychedelic Meow Wolf or beguiling Van Gogh exhibit, to the “liquid sky” music shows at Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Even the Barbie movie and the reopened Casa Bonita restaurant are being billed with the ubiquitous term.
For food lovers and cooks, summer and fall have always been fully engrossing experiences. If you are passionate about savoring the fleeting flavors of fresh, locally grown produce, the place to embrace the season is at a roadside farm stand.
Farmers markets are convenient, but they’re really just a tease for the real thing taking place every day along the dusty backroads of Boulder County. When you stop at a stand, you can see the crops growing and smell the soil, meet the farmers and escape into the vegetable multiverse.
With the prime of the harvest ahead, many stands have just reopened, including Red Wagon Farm in Lafayette and Boulder’s Munson Farms.
While the season is at its peak, use the following alphabetical directory to find Boulder County farm stands. Let us know what we missed: [email protected].
Aspen Moon Farm
7927 Hygiene Road, Hygiene
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.
Owners Erin Dreistadt and Jason Griffith operate this certified organic farm. The Aspen Moon stand offers an array of vegetables plus raspberries, salad greens, flowers, popcorn and food from local producers.
The Bee Hugger Farm
12590 Ute Highway, Longmont
8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
The Bee Hugger is a charming farm experience and opportunity for kids to hang out with pigs, goats, horses, a donkey and sheep. The self-serve stand offers raw and flavored local honeys, eggs and a u-pick sunflower field.
Benevolence Orchard & Gardens
6712 Jay Road, Boulder
10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily
This farm and heirloom fruit orchard offers a self-service stand stocking fresh herbs, greens, vegetables and fruits as well as farm-made apple cider vinegar, raw honey, fresh mushrooms, mushroom tinctures and pick-your-own flower bouquets.
Black Cat Farm Store
4975 Jay Road, Boulder
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.
Some of the vegetables, grains and heirloom meats produced on Boulder’s Black Cat Farm go to chef/farmer Erik Skokan’s Bramble & Hare restaurant. The rest is available in a year-round farm store stocked with bread, prepared frozen foods from Skokan’s kitchens, as well as other locally produced foods. Don’t miss the farm’s late season communal vegetable u-pick events.
Boulder Lavender Farm
Arapahoe Avenue at Willow Creek Drive east of 95th Street, Boulder
This small honor-system cart overlooking a very fragrant field offers lavender bouquets and products, eggs, honey and kombucha.
Buckner Family Farm
10075 N. 75th St., Longmont
The Buckner family raises beef, pork and lamb served at the state’s top restaurants. About once a month the ranch offers a meat sale for folks signed up on the farm’s email list. The frozen offerings often include meat cuts as well as German, smoked, banger and breakfast sausages, hot dogs, bacon and chorizo.
Cure Organic Farm
7450 Valmont Road, Boulder
Noon-5 p.m. daily
Farmer Anne Cure’s busy stand showcases certified organic vegetables, greens and herbs including a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes. Also on the shelves are eggs, local beef, Western Slope fruit, honey and sourdough loaves.
Farm Stand
On 73rd Street just north of Niwot Road
Look for the sign offering eggs, vegetables and jam.
Farm Trailer
On the southwest side of 95th Street, south of Valmont Road, Boulder
Find fresh veggies and grains here.
Growing Gardens
1630 Hawthorn Ave., Boulder
3:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday
This agricultural learning organization fills its farm stand with lettuce mix, hakurei turnips, local mushrooms, pasta, baked goods and meats.
Let It Bee Honey & More Store
4689 Ute Highway, Lyons
Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.
Totally bee-focused establishment selling bulk raw honey, pollen, beeswax, candles, royal jelly and candy.
MASA Seed Foundation Farm and Gardens
1367 75th St., Boulder
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.
MASA is a unique facility featuring a repository full of locally adapted seeds, plants and vegetables.
Montgomery Homestead Farm Stand
10286 Isabelle Road, Lafayette (1/2 mile west of U.S. 287)
8 a.m.-noon Saturday; 3-6 p.m. Wednesday
In its 160th year as a family farm, the Montgomery Homestead Farm stand offers a diversity of crops including green beans, peppers, tomatillos, kohlrabi, cukes, eggplant, rose hips and squash.
Munson Farms
7355 Valmont Road, Boulder
11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
Generations of locals have scored countless freshly picked ears of sweet corn at Munson Farm in the late summer. The stand also offers squash, flowers, tomatoes and Western Slope fruit.
Off Beet Farm
Near 3700 North 63rd St., Boulder
This small self-service roadside stand offers a limited selection of fresh vegetables and flowers.
Ollin Farms
8627 N. 95th St., Longmont
11 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
Ollin Farms extends a welcoming experience including a stand well-stocked with vegetables, greens, herbs, flowers and an array of local food products. The stand also hosts booths from other small farms.
Red Wagon Farm Store
1640 Baseline Road, Lafayette
Noon-6 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends
Long a supplier of produce to notable bistros and cafes, Red Wagon is now at home in the spacious barn just west of U.S. 287 on Lafayette’s Thomas Open Space. Besides its beautiful cherry tomatoes, leeks, squash, potatoes, greens and flowers, the store stocks foods from other local producers.
Squeak and Squawk Farm
7798 N. 83rd St., Longmont (near the Diagonal Highway)
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday
Squeak and Squawk provides vegetables, baked goods, honey and homemade preserves such as ploughman’s pickles, southwestern corn relish, sriracha cauliflower and pickled beets.
7th Generation Farm
1536 Courtesy Road (95th Street), Louisville
Noon-5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday
Steps away from downtown Louisville, this Open Space farm is a rural escape featuring a small store selling meats, produce and honey. In the fall the farm hosts a pumpkin patch and family festival.
Shadow Butte Lake Ranch
Valmont Road near 70th Street
A small, self-service trailer parked by the side of the road is packed with a surprising variety of farm-grown vegetables, multi-colored eggs and preserves.
Stalk Market at the Yellow Barn
9417 N. Foothills Highway (U.S. 36), Boulder
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sun.
Dedicated to local, sustainable, zero-waste products, a membership fee (similar to a CSA) is required to shop at the stand.
Summer Dog Farm
8716 Arapahoe Road, Boulder
11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday
This charming stand sells folk art, vegetables, honey and jam.
Sunbeam Farm
1005 Cherryvale Road, Boulder
This self-serve stand is stocked with fresh eggs and some greens and vegetables.
Tabor Acres Farm
3918 N. 119th St., Lafayette
7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, except Thursday
The 30-acre Tabor property mainly grows flowers but also supplies farm eggs and honey.
Ya Ya Farm and Orchard
6914 Ute Highway, Longmont
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
The varieties of heirloom apples ripen one after another as the harvest season progresses. Many are sold fresh (or self-picked by visitors). Some end up in the stand’s famous apple cider and doughnuts. Kids can visit with the many animals.
