The smell of warm cinnamon, mixed with the aroma of herbs basting in the oven is all too familiar on Thanksgiving. It is the welcomed nostalgia that visits us year after year and somehow we try to dress up tradition and provide a little twist. Do so, by shopping locally at hobby farms, homesteads, and cottage bakeries this fall. Let your guide to shopping local enhance your favorite dishes to come out of the oven this year.
We’ve highlighted six local entities you can visit to elevate your flavor and taste with home grown goodness.
Queen Creek Backyard Orchard
Location: 19439 E. Calle de Flores off of Sossamon and Chandler Heights
Specializes in providing a wide variety of fruits off the branch, jams, and fresh seasonal juices. By Thanksgiving you may find apricots, peaches, plums, apples, persimmons, and figs and by the winter, six varieties of citrus including blood orange, cara cara, tangerines and tangelos. Their orchard also provides a year round supply of delicious home-made jams such as apple butter, apricot, and pomegranate. Don’t miss out on visiting after the holidays, when the new year approaches, they offer citrus tasting tours at their orchard.
Lucky 7 Farms
Location: Germann/Coyote
Provides farm fresh eggs by the dozen for $5 a box. You might pair an egg pickup with some of their seasonal herbs or sign up for a sourdough class or take home some Nigerian Dwarf Goat milk. Lucky 7 Farm’s favorite Thanksgiving tradition is writing on the gratitude pumpkin! A pumpkin is brought to the Thanksgiving table, and everyone shares what they’re thankful for by scribbling a little something with a sharpie. By the end, the pumpkin is filled with markings of gratitude. www.lucky7farmsaz.com
C&C Desert Delights
Location: Judd/Hunt Highway (Copper Basin Community), Contact Christine: 605-400-1987
C&C Delights does the cooking for you in her cottage bakery, offering homemade pies and sweet potato dinner rolls. Pick up a dozen freshly baked rolls for $15 and accompany her homemade cinnamon butter, or even better take the pressure off of yourself baking pies and let this exceptional pastry chef do it for you. With pies ranging from $45-$60 dollars, you cannot beat a smoking deal on her pumpkin swirl cheesecakes or fresh apple pies. C&C also offers a variety of other deserts including cinnamon rolls, house made chocolates, and so much more.
Radish Acres, The Homestead Cottage
Location: Homestead off of Brenner Pass, San Tan Mountain Area, For live location visit facebook: Radish Mama
Radish Acres is a working homestead behind San Tan Regional Park that offers meat shares of chicken, pork, and chevron. They also offer chicken, duck and turkey eggs alongside fresh produce ranging from $7 and up. Radish Acres also provides homesteading classes for those who want to learn more about self-cultivation. Radish Acres has also expanded to offer The Homestead Cottage on the property as a rental gathering space that provides a beautiful landscape and table space.
The Pink Cart Bakery
Location: Crismon and Ocotillo
The Pink Cart Bakery is a local bakery providing fresh baked sourdough. At The Pink Cart Bakery you are receiving a joyfully made local bread made with elbow grease and a lot of love available to pick up porch side. The Pink Cart bakery also has a line of seasonal desserts featuring homemade marshmallows and nutter butters as well as brownies and carmel apples. www.thepinkcartbakery.com
JDMMK Ranch
Location: Magma Rd. Florence, AZ Contact: 815-762-5475
At JDMMK Ranch, James and Diane Kolchel are proud of the family and entirely veteran run 5 acre ranch. They sell quality shares of pork, beef, chicken, and sometimes goat and sheep as well. For the last 6 years, their mission is to serve locals with meat that is free range and free of hormones at an affordable price.
Breanna Vega is a Queen Creek resident with a passion for all things local. Breanna is a mother, a certified teacher, homeschool mom, entrepreneur and writer. She services faith based independent learning groups as well as builds connections with local entrepreneurs through partnerships, collaborations, and support.