8 Things That Change at a Pennsylvania Farmers Market Once the Summer Crops End

There’s a moment every fall when a Pennsylvania farmers market stops looking like summer.

The last tomatoes disappear, apples fill the empty crates, and pumpkins start crowding the tables.

These are the things that change at a Pennsylvania farmers market once the summer crops end.

Disappearing Sweet Corn and Tomatoes

Sweet corn disappears from a Pennsylvania farmers market table before almost anything else once summer starts winding down.

Ears keep coming in through August and into early September before the stalks finally stop producing.

Tomatoes hang on a little longer, right up until the first hard frost hits the vines.

Then they’re gone.

A shopper looking for a July haul finds apples, squash, and greens on the table instead.

The Apple Takeover

Apples take the biggest table at a Pennsylvania farmers market once the corn and tomatoes clear out.

Pennsylvania is the country’s fourth-largest apple producer, trailing only Washington, New York, and Michigan.

Much of that crop grows around Adams County, an area growers there have long called the Apple Capital of the USA.

That’s no small crop.

The National Apple Harvest Festival opens in Biglerville on October 3 this year, and it runs two weekends deep in the county’s orchards.

The Winter Squash and Pumpkin Pile

Pennsylvania farmers markets swap their summer squash for the winter kind once the calendar turns to fall.

Acorn, butternut, hubbard, and spaghetti squash all get picked in fall, once their rinds toughen enough to survive weeks on a shelf.

Pumpkins pile up right alongside them, filling the same crates that held peaches and cantaloupes just weeks earlier.

Some never see a pie.

Vendors sell ornamental pumpkins for porches and pie-ready pumpkins for baking, and shoppers grab both from the same stand.

Storage Crops in the Bins

A different category of vegetable takes over a Pennsylvania farmers market’s bins once summer’s delicate produce is done.

Potatoes, onions, cabbage, beets, and turnips take over, all of them built to last for weeks on a counter instead of days in a fridge.

They keep.

None of them need refrigeration to survive the trip home or the weeks after it.

The First Fresh Cider

Fresh-pressed cider shows up at a Pennsylvania farmers market for the first time all year once the apple harvest gets rolling.

Close to 30 cideries operate across the state, and Pennsylvania’s spot as the nation’s fourth-largest apple grower keeps many of them stocked close to home.

Jugs of it show up right next to the apple crates, often pressed within days of the fruit coming off the tree.

It doesn’t last long.

Vendors sell out fast, and many stop pressing once the last local apples run out in November.

The Flower-Bucket Replacement

Cut-flower buckets give way to pots of mums at a Pennsylvania farmers market once summer’s blooms fade.

Pennsylvania has ranked among the top five states for growing chrysanthemums, and a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) count from the mid-2010s found the state’s growers raising more than 3 million hardy mums in a single year.

Gourds and ornamental corn crowd the same table, propped up next to the mums for a porch display.

Nothing stays green for long.

By the second week of October, the flower stand looks nothing like it did in July.

The Trimmed Schedule

A Pennsylvania farmers market doesn't just lose its summer crops once they're gone. It loses market days too.

Pittsburgh's Northside Farmers Market, for example, keeps its regular schedule and runs from late May through November 20 this year, then goes dark until spring.

Smaller markets don't always hold that line.

Markets that lean hardest on summer produce for their vendor lineup often cut back to fewer days a week, or close for the season outright, the moment that produce stops filling the tables.

Fewer crops, fewer market days.

Regulars start asking vendors when the last Saturday of the season falls, since a missed weekend means waiting until spring.

The Market Stand's Second Act

Pennsylvania farm markets built around a working farm add a second act once the summer produce runs its course.

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Lancaster County, for instance, turns its market stand into a full corn maze and hayride operation the moment the summer stalks dry out.

Families who never stopped for a single tomato all July show up for the maze instead.

The stand stays open.

It just shares the lot now with hayrides, cider donuts, and a pumpkin patch for the rest of the season.