I had a lovely shopping experience with 1818 Farms recently! A couple of Sunday afternoon's ago, I…read moreordered several lip balms and a beautiful "resin art - rectangular tray," please see the picture which does NOT do the product justice. These were birthday gifts for my favorite Sister. Fast forward to Tuesday, and the extremely well packed box arrived! Wow, talk about fast shipping! The lip balms were treated with so much care! They were packed in a reusable ice pack envelope, and packed so well, I had to get the scissors out to open them, which sadly, damaged the envelope package but not the balms. 1818 offers a handwritten note along with their products, which I forgot about. After Sister joyfully opened her gifts, I remembered the hand written note, which we retrieved from the abundant bubble wrap in the trash can, and Sister just loved the note! Such a nice, sweet, personal touch! To this day, Sister is looking for the perfect easel on which to display her beautiful resin tray, and you can even specify a color scheme for the flowers in the resin products. Do consider 1919 Farms for unique, natural, and in nearly all [perhaps all] cases handmade items that support a locally owned Farm. Thanks so much 1818 Farms for making my Sister's birthday extremely memorable!!!!!

I met the owner of 1818 Farms, Natasha McCrary, at a craft fair featuring Alabama made products…read moreearlier this year. 1818 Farms is located in the historic town of Mooresville, near Decatur, Alabama, population at last count was 53. Events here may triple the population of the town on a regular basis. In addition to Natasha's line of cosmetics, the beautiful little farm raises organic produce, heritage breed Babydoll Southdown Sheep, and other farm animals. It is a popular site for weddings and receptions I understand. Seminars, children's camps, classes and retreats are just a few of other activities that are found here. When I first met the owner, she told me about their farm-to-table dinners featuring produce grown on site and when I got home, went online and made reservations shortly before it sold out. On June 10, 2016, I attended my first Dinner on the Farm featuring Chef Jakob Reid of the Albany Bistro in nearby Decatur, Alabama. You will not find a prettier setting for a farm-to-table dinner. A rustic pavilion with fans, elegant seating and table settings is located in a shady corner of the property with a view of the woods and a nearby creek. Beautiful music provided by the Mellotones of Madison, Alabama, provided a really serene background of perfect relaxing live string harmonies. Appetizers were the first enticement offered to guests. A platter of grilled shrimp on miniature grit cakes tasted as good as they looked. A variety of pickled vegetables made in the Farm kitchens were spread with an assortment of cheeses, including a local goat cheese, and crackers. An egg salad dip from on site farm chicken eggs rounded out the bountiful appetizer table. A special treat with the Camembert cheese was a blueberry jalapeño jam hand made with on site ingredients by the hostess, Natasha McCrary. The slight spiciness of the jalapeños was a surprisingly good compliment to the sweet blueberries. With the cheese, it was a powerhouse combination. The first course consisted of a beautifully prepared bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, with a drizzle of Georgia olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and farm raised basil grown and picked just feet away from our tables. The second course was a small salad of fresh, young cucumbers marinated in Georgia olive oil, vinegar, dill and basil served on a wedge of Italian flat bread. The main course was a perfectly roasted moist and flavorful skinless chicken breast, named by the chef "airline chicken" with a wing bone left attached like the tail of an airplane. A grit cake well toasted on all sides with a faint taste of Andouille sausage was a great side to the chicken and was a fitting compliment, almost like a Cajun cornbread, to perfectly cooked vegetables which were my favorite dish of the evening. Farm grown squash, zucchini, and pole beans were steamed with a light seasoning that complimented but did not hide the wonderful taste of the vegetables. Chef Reid has the ability to showcase the taste of the wonderful fresh produce he prepares without over seasoning. The final course for the evening was a very French inspired baked meringue with a topping of strawberry mousse from locally grown strawberries and drizzled with a dark chocolate Ganache. It was a very decadent desert to end a very wonderful meal in a very wonderful setting. The special dinners served here do not include beverages except for water and so you are encouraged to bring your own. Most guests did bring their favorite wines which were very abundant. I prefer wines matched to the food on special dining occasions so a menu, which was not provided, would be a helpful suggestion. Dress is casual and should be comfortable for an outdoor setting.

I've been going for years one thing I recommend is horse camp for your kids in the summer and I…read morealways have birthday rides here I love it

My daughters and grandchildren have been to the farm several times. When my grandchildren were…read moremuch younger, we went for a lesson on grooming, saddling, pre-ride and after-ride care of the horses. The owner treated my family and horses with respect and kindness. We went a few days later for a trail ride and subsequently several times since. Our experiences have been positive.

Enjoyed myself this year, I've been trying to come pick tulips for the longest! I think it was…read morebeautiful even though we came at the end of the season so my babies didn't last extremely long. Beautiful! I look forward to the fall for sunflower season

I really enjoyed the weekend drive over to Hubert Family Farms to pick tulips! To start off with…read moreits absolutely beautiful - rows and rows of tulips - pink, red, yellow, maroon etc. The pricing was about 9$ per person and 2.50 per tulip. One thing I will say is the ground was pretty muddy on the day we went - I wish I wore rain boots. That thick red clay mud is tough to wash off so I would keep that in mind! Also I saw several people with dogs - and that's really cool and good to know for future trips! The day we went they had several food trucks out there too. I would recommend following them on instagram to see upcoming events!

Super easy to do business with. Superb customer service! Asked for delivery to Madison two days…read morebefore Christmas and he agreed to this without hesitation! You don't find that kind of attitude and service very often anymore. It was greatly appreciated.

On my quest to find a great homegrown tomato, I stopped by after taking my dad to lunch. It was…read moreclose to 1pm so the vendors who bring their fresh produce were gone. I went inside to Ayers where they had a room full of people looking at their produce. I noticed the prices for produce seemed higher than other places where I have shopped in the last week. Tomatoes were in two different areas of the store. One display placard said tomatoes for $2.49 a pound. The other placard said Amish tomatoes for $4.99 a pound. After looking at the $2.49 tomatoes, seeing some were overripe and leaking, I went to look at the $4.99 a pound Amish tomatoes. There were 5 of us checking these tomatoes out. Hubs handed me a bag and I put 1 tomato in it. He picked out another tomato and put it in the bag. The squash and zucchini were larger than I like so we went to check out. I paid $11.67 for my two tomatoes. They were on the large side. As for taste, they taste good. So far the best tomatoes I have eaten were bought from The Fresh Market. Those tomatoes were grown in Kentucky. If you are looking for multiple types of fresh vegetables and fruits, Ayers has them. I will have to return early when the farmers are there to see their produce. It's always good to support local businesses.

Everything is so fresh and they are so nice! They talk to you about your family and help you when…read moreyou're unsure about somethings.

I love that this farmer's market is in my neighborhood, very convenient! However, it can be very…read morepricey. I bought farm eggs that were $9.00, be aware.

We specifically went here for the food and shopping. The food was so fresh and delicious. Each of…read morethe sandwiches come with chips but you have the option of switching that out for another side item. I had the turkey and pepper jelly. It tasted just like I imagined. It wasn't spicy, even though it had sliced jalapenos. It has cream cheese, pepper jelly, sliced jalapenos and turkey. I substituted sweet potato casserole for the chips. My husband had the BLT on hawaiian roll with baked potato salad. My kids had a BLT, chicken club sandwich, hamburger and the pork and Mac sandwich. All with fries. The fries have butter seasoning on them. They have a cute store with homemade canned items, clothes and pumpkins. They have some baked goods, frozen meat and frozen veggies too. There was so much, I cant list it all.

Watermelon was the best I ever had. So sweet. Sandwich was awesome too. Will definitely be back soonread more

I was told the goat cheese was amazing, so naturally I had to stop by the Bailey Cove market today…read moreand pick some up. They were super friendly and recommended their original Tucson flavor. You can eat this as a spread or add it to salads, entrees, etc. I'm super excited and they have a lot of flavors! Pretty reasonable for fresh local cheese!

This farm is a real gem! So you go to their website & make an appointment to tour. The tour lasts…read morefor about an hour & a half & costs $10. You play with baby goats and sample their wide variety of cheeses. We also played with puppies & kittens as they happened to have them then. Definitely a fun afternoon for any age group. They also sell their cheese for $7 for a container & are at a Chattanooga farmers market on the weekends. They had both sweet, pimento, Buffalo, Mediterranean etc cheese flavors.

UPDATE: Last time I went, I ordered one panini, paid for it, and - while I waited - bought a few…read moregroceries. When I returned, it wasn't ready and the one employee was sitting talking with someone else. Probably won't be back.

This market seems to have old vegetables every time I go there also less variety to choose from.read more