Wayside Farms

You'll always recognize the Sanzottas this time of year as they're surrounded by a moat of apples 🍎

Between Joe and Amy Sanzotta, co-owners of Wayside Farms, these two grow all of our favorite fruit staples including apples, cherries, blueberries, and plums. With knowledge passed down through generations, Joe learned the trade of harvesting by hand. " My grandfather ran the farm for 40 years and I used to sell produce at the wholesale Market with him. It's been 11 years since he passed. I took over the farm and switched from retail to wholesale."

"My sons and daughter are here with me too and learning about agriculture just as I did from my grandfather. One of my favorite parts of working with my kids is that they gain socialization skills by meeting a lot of people at the Market. That can be lost on kids sometimes. Plus, every day is different and it takes a full day to simply prep for the Market. Spraying and pruning the trees, sorting apples from the cooler into baskets, bins, bushel boxes...it's an entire family effort. It isn’t my only job though. I’m a logger full-time and Amy is in social work."

If you're APPLE-solutely an apple lover, today is the last day of the season that the Sanzottas will be in A-Shed at the Market. You'll see their crates and crates and crates of beautiful ruby red and sour green apples that are bringing a spot of light into our day. "They go directly from the trees to the Market so it's a fresher form of produce to consume. Plus you're helping local businesses, many of whom are small farms."