Locally Grown
Southern Craft Creamery
Located on the outskirts of Marianna, this dairy farm produces not only milk but award winning ice cream. One award Southern Craft Creamery has received is the prestigious award for Best Southern Ice Cream in Garden & Gun magazine. A brick and mortar ice cream shop draws ice cream lovers from all over. It is worth the stop.
Cypress Cattle Farmers Market
Situated on US 331 in Freeport, this roadside market features fresh local-sourced produce from the Langford family-owned Cypress Cattle Company as well as produce from other growers throughout the state and region. Participating in the Panhandle Fresh Marketing Association, Cypress offers the freshest products available in season, including tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, collards, rutabaga, turnips, broccoli, squash, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, okra, and field peas. They also carry a full line of ranch-raised beef, both grass-and grain-fed, a full line of dairy, cheese, and butter as well as canned goods from Amish Country. For more information, please visit the Cypress Cattle Company on Facebook.
Main Street Market Chipley
Owner Paul Davidson of Davidson Farms was recognized as the Washington County Agriculture Innovator of the Year by the University of Florida IFAS Extension and Farm Credit of Northwest Florida. Davidson began his farming operation in 1988 and in 2008 opened the Main Street Market to offer an outlet for his produce as well as that grown by other local farmers. Always stocked with what’s fresh, the market also has an outstanding collection of jams, relishes, and frozen goods, including a broad selection of unusual flavors of ice cream from Southern Craft Creamery, featuring fresh local ingredients. For more information, please visit www.chipleymarket.com.
Red Bay Grocery
The Red Bay Grocery has been in operation since 1936 under 28 different owners. It closed in 2008 and left the community without a gathering spot. As a result, folks had to drive 20 miles to get provisions. In 2009 some 50 community partners brought the store back to life and rebuilt it again after a devastating fire in 2011. Operated like a cooperative, the partners grow the produce, cut fresh flowers, bake cookies, cakes, and pies, take care of the carpentry, plumbing, and electrical needs and even handle legal issues. But mainly, over coffee and biscuits, the partners of Red Bay Grocery provide stories and daily updates of the goings on in this small town. The shelves are full of local products like honey, jams, jellies, pickled goods, and sauces. Breakfasts and homemade ice cream are extremely popular. Lunch and dinner are also served on the weekend. For more information, please visit Red Bay Grocery on Facebook.
Ocheesee Creamery
A small, three-generation dairy and creamery with a storefront, farm, and bottling tours. This is the only dairy in the state that makes its own butter. The Ocheesee Creamery is bringing back the healthy goodness of whole milk and other dairy products. Step back to a time when cows grazed on pasture land to get all of the benefits of fresh air, sunlight, and fresh green grass. Studies show that cows with a primary diet of fresh grass produce milk with five times more unsaturated fat than cows fed processed grains.
Tupelo Honey
Tupelo honey is a true local wonder. In fact, it was brought into the spotlight in the 1997 Peter Fonda movie “Ulee’s Gold,” a story about a Wewahitchka beekeeper and his family.
It is here that beekeepers gather the only pure tupelo honey earth harvested from the White Tupelo Gum trees reaching 50 to 75 feet in height and often standing in several feet of water in Apalachicola River basin. The Tupelo tree blossom starts out as a round bud, about the size of a small pea. It then swells into what looks like a miniature cauliflower. Finally, it explodes with dozens of little spikes. The nectar is at the base of each spike.
What makes Tupelo Honey unique is the floral scent – a hint of rose, some herby, earthy taste, pure sweetness and not a hint of bitterness. Doesn’t that sound good with a morning cup of coffee overlooking the beach?
Wewahitchka, located about 20 minutes north of Port St Joe, is home to many apiaries where you are allowed to taste samples and purchase from over a dozen varieties of raw honey. Stop in and take a tour of one of the apiaries, Smiley Honey. In Gulf County, local honey is also available in area stores and it can be sampled at the Gulf County Welcome Center.
The annual Wewahitchka Tupelo Honey Festival takes place on the 3rdSaturday in May and celebrates the honey harvesting season with plenty of honey, including jars as small as 2 ounces to gallon jugs and everything in between – including ice-cold honey lemonade!