Bring local produce straight to your home while supporting Lexington County based-farms and businesses. Spring is officially in the air and if growing a garden isn’t your forte, there are experienced farmers to provide fresh staples at the dinner table.

Local farms around the county have an array of selections to choose from, including community supported agriculture (CSA), roadside stands or produce baskets. While roadside stands and produce containers allow consumers to buy what they want when it’s available, CSAs allow consumers to buy memberships which benefits the agricultural community as a whole. 

When it comes to purchasing CSA memberships, consumers should know that their baskets or boxes may vary but in turn they are supporting their local farms, according to the state’s agriculture website.

According to South Carolina’s agriculture department, there are seven roadside markets and three farmers markets within Lexington County. CSAs can be found through localharvest.org. 

However, in Lexington County CSAs have decreased. On the Local Harvest website, which is supported by the state’s agriculture department, the Lexington area farms who claimed to have CSAs either stopped or were unable to be reached via phone.

Those farms that were reachable via phone either deliver their products to other stores or businesses or have people pick them up from the farm or have some sort of roadside stand. Cindy Hall with Utopia Farm, LLC, runs the farm with her husband, Ray. The Leesville-based farm doesn’t do CSAs or go to markets this year, but people can swing by their farm, preferably with an appointment.

Ben Stabler operates Stabler Farms out of Gaston. His farm doesn’t offer produce but instead offers grass-fed beef, chicken and non-GMO eggs. He doesn’t offer memberships, but people can pick up from the farm’s family wagon. His farm also delivers to 14 Carrot and Wingard’s Market in Lexington.

There are advantages for farmers and consumers alike in supporting local farms. Consumers know that they are receiving local produce and helping the farms in their community. CSAs can offer farms early and guaranteed payment; however, it seems farms around the area do not want to or cannot provide the supply needed.

There are other farms in surrounding counties who provide CSAs and can deliver or have pick up available.

Below is a sure-to-be incomplete list of farms and markets providing local produce. There are markets like Wingard’s that sell produce from local growers.

Farms

Stabler Family Farms
294 Kaiser Rd., Gaston
(803) 513-4886, stablerfamilyfarms.com

Round River Farms
258 Riddle Rd., Leesville
(803) 532-0557, facebook.com/roundriverfarms

Utopia Farms
1108 Union Church Rd., Leesville
(803) 727-6947

Clayton Rawl Farms
Hwy. 1/Calks Ferry Rd. (roadside stand)
Lexington, (803) 359-4415

Senn Brothers Produce
327 Wholesale Ln., West Columbia
(803) 252-8723, sennbrothers.com

Cottle Strawberry Farm
1835 1/2 Sunset Blvd. (roadside stand), West Columbia
(803) 695-1714, cottlestrawberryfarm.com

Markets

Wingard’s Market
1403 N. Lake Dr., Lexington
(803) 359-9091, wingardsmarket.com

Cayce Farmer’s Market
2329 Charleston Hwy., Cayce
(803) 791-1009

Heritage Fields Farm
10259 Broad River Rd., Irmo
(803) 764-7280, heritagefieldsfarm.com

The Market at Icehouse
107 West Main St., Lexington
(803) 358-7275, lexsc.com/307/The-Market-at-Icehouse

South Carolina State Farmers Market
3483 Charleston Hwy., West Columbia
(803) 737-4664, scstatefarmersmarket.com