Follow Farmshop on Instagram if you're local and love discovering small businesses - they carry…read moresuch a fun variety of local treats all in one spot. On this quick visit, I picked up an ice cream sandwich (insanely delicious), a giant cinnamon roll for my littles, and a Butter Block Pop-Tart. Every single item was a hit. I'm now fully invested in stalking Quokka Sweets, the queen of seasonally inspired ice cream creations. Her peanut butter caramel cream cheese sammie is still living rent-free in my head--so rich, creamy, salty, sweet, with just the right tang from the cream cheese, all sandwiched between two soft graham cracker blondies. Unreal. Also officially keeping tabs on Savage Wheat Project after my kids immediately said, "Let's eat more of their treats." And honestly... Butter Block's homemade Pop-Tarts? Say less. This place is basically a one-stop shop for anyone who appreciates a really good local treat.

Small little local shop downtown off Elmwood. Picked up a loaf of Savage Sourdough bread. Damn!…read moreWhat an amazing bread this is, a real loaf of excellence.

What to say about Kappus...? We have been here 2 or maybe 3 years when my regular cherry farm…read morehasn't produced. We won't be going back. If you want to feel like you aren't even in America, go to this farm. We are English speaking outsiders here. Kappus charges $5/person picking fee, which comes off your final amount if you pick enough (forgot what the quota is). They told me they have to do this because many of their patrons just go in and eat. Indians and Muslims galore, sitting in the fields eating the cherries while they walk out with barely any picked. One patron gave my daughter BRANCHES he had taken from the trees with cherries on them. My teens get mad going to this farm because of what they see. As for the cherrries, the sours weren't really sour tasting imo, and a lot of the trees just don't taste great. Make sure you taste every tree bc the ones with the cherries still on them, are yucky tasting. The one lady worker is nice. The other ones are just kind of meh. I would be too if I saw my farm being destroyed by people not speaking my language and not really caring about my land. We won't be going back anymore. It feels like a punch in the gut.

$5 Admission that goes towards fruit picked, and trust me, you'll use it! Clean, quiet and trees…read morefull of beautiful fruit. The folks that work there are lovely. I'll definitely go back for other fruit picking. The prices are unbeatable, and even better, the fruit delicious!

Free sunflower field? ABSOLUTELY! Huge sunflower field to explore and you have the option to pick…read moresome too for a cost. Bruce and I just chose to appreciate the beauty of the flowers, and of course take pictures in the cute props along the way! Lots of food options, almost like a fair, and bouncy houses for kids!

This place is the definition of an instagrammable summer spot! As the name implies, this is a HUGE…read moresunflower field, and the sights are incredible. Nothing beats yellow heads of petals, taller than you are, as far as the eye can see! Well, depending on how tall you are, they either tower over you, or are the size of your peers. There is a nice path through the main field, with plenty of opportunity to snap beautiful photos of yourself, your family and friends, or the flowers themselves. Be prepared to bring rubber boots or closed toed shoes if it has rained recently, as the pathway is in a field of dirt! There is a second side where there are all sorts of photo opp items to see, including my favorite, a bright pink tractor! There's painted boards with cut outs for your face, and lots of farm equipment dispersed throughout. You can grab food from the multiple food trucks/stands on the property, sit and eat under their many large tents with tables and benches. There are the typical trinkets and toys for kids to purchase, and they have a big mining setup, which my kid absolutely adores. He spent over 20 minutes just playing with the water! There are other activities throughout the season but we didn't check them out, we opted for a quieter trip where we could walk, and the crowd was smaller. It does get crowded, so plan accordingly! If you have children who can't walk too far, bring a wagon or stroller, but make sure it has big, rugged wheels! And of course, you can choose to cut your own flowers in the cutting field, or you can grab a pre-cut bouquet if you prefer. Also, you can feel free to dry the seeds from the flowers you purchase, and plant them next year- keeping a sunflower patch in perpetuity from just one trip- but that's the gardener in me giving advice. I personally grow a variety of sunflowers in my garden every year, but always enjoy coming to this place to see the majesty of all these flowers in one spot. This is a must do in the summer, at least once!

This was the first year of The Niagara Footprint Festival at Beaver Island State Park. There were…read moreactivities, family friendly, outdoor and indoor. They had Fat Bike rentals to try the big tire bikes in the snow. Teams were demonstrating their dog sleds on tracks around the pavilion. You could take a horse drawn carriage ride around the park. NCCC Culinary school was doing an ice carving. Birders were set up to view waterfowl by the river. In the pavilion vendors were set up promoting solar energy, selling maple syrup, recruiting for the girl scouts....a variety of tables. Food trucks with hot dogs, hot chocolate, coffee, etc. helped you warm up with hot food. Frisbee golf, snowshoeing, x-country skiing and River Lea Historical Tours were some of the extra activities you could partake in. For the first year I think it came off nicely.

This is a new holiday market in Niagara Falls. Very easy street parking…read more It's in two venues across from each other on third street. Some 40 vendors, I think all local to NF. You'll find quite a few T-shirt stalls - quite varied options. Two booths of creative wreaths - they will last for years. Very large, creative and colorful. Reversible bow ties that win in creativity. They were awesome. I don't know anyone that wears bow ties or I would have certainly picked on up. Great idea. A few places selling mugs, from handmade buffalo themed to knitted mug holders. I recently found macrame pot hangers we made years ago, and I saw them here again. I guess they are back in style. One venue had live music, not too loud, which was really nice. A few places selling various bath bulbs, body scrubs, etc. Many scarf options, I picked one up as a gift. One of the most interesting stalls was called Brick Chick - she makes things for your garden. Very interesting. One site was more cramped than the other, making it a little tight. Great first year event for NF. 105/R-a-D Challenge

I reviewed the list of vendors the day before and I'm so glad I did…read more The event itself was a little overwhelming. So much to look at, so many people... I bought a couple bags of coffee from True Bean. Their coffee is absolutely delicious! It's whole bean coffee, maybe a little less convenient then pre-ground, but its WORTH EVERY PENNY! They were also offering pour over samples of their Ethiopian coffee. Its sooooo good! A dear friend of a friend, Billy Butski had a display of his photography. I had to buy a calendar. 12 beautiful images of the Falls, its gorgeous! The Sample Seed Shop was there with seeds. I bought several types of pepper seeds, and some kale seeds. Remy Rotella is very knowledgeable about the seeds she sells. I also got some catnip seeds that my kitties will surely enjoy, and some Thai Basil seeds that I'm really looking forward to growing. I love making Pad Thai but it's so difficult to find Thai Basil in local stores. I sampled some black garlic hummus from 3 Sisters Garlic that was rich, creamy and not overly garlicky but very tasty. I opted to purchase a black garlic butter. I think it'll taste great over steamed veggies. And lastly I bought a beautiful amethyst heart from Spiritual Landing. All together about $80 spent, including a donation to disabled veterans.

Local community CSA open for pick up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plentiful amount of tomatoes,…read morebeans, herbs, flowers, and other leafy greens. Waiting list to join but worth the wait.

Everything, Steve & Erin are great people as well as masters at farming, amazing how much they…read moregrow....and the quality is the best...

The Elmwood Festival of the Arts remains one of my favorites from the Buffalo festival season…read morelineup! A good chunk of the Elmwood strip is closed down for two days of music, food, and, of course, lots of wonderful art. What I like about the Elmwood festival over Allentown Art Fest is that the lineup of artisans selling goods that are not only affordable, but could easily find a place in your home, too. At Allentown, there are a lot of "once in a lifetime" pieces that you'd *really* need a specific place for. But at the Elmwood festival, you can easily find wall art, pottery, and glassware that could fit right into your space. There's always a great lineup of food trucks and bands here, and I really like how all the small businesses on Elmwood stay open so you can shop there, too. It's a little crowded -- but I never really mind. I know summer is coming to a close whenever it's time for the Elmwood Festival of the Arts. But hey, at least I've got a lot of cool new artwork to brighten up my apartment just in time for Buffalo winter.

I spent a very enjoyable Sunday morning here this year. Much smaller than the Allentown Art…read moreFestival, its an easy 5 or 6 blocks of Elmwood - from St James Place to West Ferry. Pros: Id have to say each exhibitor was a high quality one. There really was none of the "junk" you may find at other festivals. The food options were in specific areas, I noticed two of them, one at the St James end of the festival, the other on one of the side streets. Id imagine there was a third, but I did not make note of it. The expected food trucks were available. Tons of "local tables", the BPO had one, Olmsted Conservancy another, Burchfield Penney a third. There were many others as well. A great way to learn more about the various attractions Buffalo has to offer year round. Cons: For these not living nearby or taking public transport, there was terrible parking organization, they had closed off most of the side streets nearby to "Local Traffic Only". If this had been a very humid hot weekend, that would have made for some long hot walks just to get there. As a result, there was really not a "disabled friendly" atmosphere about the festival. (If there was a designated disabled parking area, it was not well publicized enough to be easily found by me, searching for it on line). They sold water for $1 bottle. Really? Costs under $5 for a case (including the deposit costs), sell the water for .50 (even .75) and stop doing such a huge markup. And while you are at it, put a sign on the table of the cost so people don't have to ask about it. Other: There was music around as well, but I did not stay for long for any of that. Seemed like a great venue for it though, various stages and other covered areas throughout. While I found the quality of the vendors terrific, I can only give this 3 stars, I think it was A-OK. I am a fan, but the lack of easy disabled access brings it down a star for me.

This is a family owned farm specializing in potatoes. They also offer outstanding corn, beets,…read morecarrots, squash, onions and other produce grown on site. They have a stand at the North Tonawanda Farmers market. At the farmer's market, carryout service is available (I tipped the person 20% who carried my order a couple blocks). The offer some of the best produce I have ever seen.