localpicks.org

Farm owners can get on Local Picks in two ways: create a new listing for a farm that isn't on the platform yet, or claim an existing listing that someone else already added. Both start with a free account, and both are free to set up. If your farm already appears in the directory, claiming it gives you control over the details and better visibility; if it doesn't appear, you create the listing yourself. The same tools also let any community member suggest edits to listings they don't own.

Before you start

Local Picks describes itself as a community connecting local producers of fresh, affordable products with the people who want to buy them. The site states it has over 18,000 listings (a separate section of the same page says "over 14,000 farms and markets"), so there's a reasonable chance your farm or a nearby market is already listed.

You'll need:

• A free Local Picks account (the site repeatedly refers to signing up for a free account to unlock features).
• Basic details about the farm: name, location, and the products you sell.
• A way to verify ownership if you're claiming an existing listing rather than creating a new one.

Option 1: Create a new listing

Use this when you search Local Picks and your farm doesn't come up.

1. Sign up for a free account. The homepage prompts visitors to "Get started with a free account" and notes that signing up unlocks features. Log in once your account is active.
2. Go to the listing creation tool. The "Help Us Grow!" section offers a Create a Listing action aimed at both farm owners and supporters of local agriculture.
3. Enter your farm's details. Provide the name, location, and product information so buyers can find you. The platform's stated purpose is helping people "find and support local producers near you," so accurate location and product data is what makes your listing discoverable.
4. Publish and manage it. Once created, the listing is yours to maintain. The account features list includes "Create and Manage Listings" — described as putting local farms on the map by listing your own business or a favorite community farm.

Expected result: your farm appears in Local Picks search results and can be saved as a favorite by other users.

Option 2: Claim an existing listing

Use this when your farm is already on Local Picks but you didn't create the listing — for example, a customer or community member added it.

1. Find your listing. Search the directory for your farm name.
2. Use the claim option. Local Picks lists "Claim Listings and Suggest Edits" as an account feature, describing it as a way to "take control by claiming a farm you own for enhanced visibility."
3. Verify ownership. The claim process exists specifically for farms you own, so expect to confirm that you're the owner before gaining control.
4. Update the details. After claiming, you can correct or expand the listing information.

Why claim instead of ignoring it: the platform explicitly ties claiming to "enhanced visibility." An unclaimed listing can still be edited by others through the suggestion process, and you won't control how your farm is presented.

Option 3: Suggest edits to a listing you don't own

If you're not the owner but spot outdated or wrong information, Local Picks supports "Suggesting improvements to existing listings." This is the path for community members — the platform frames listing accuracy as a shared effort: "Whether you're a farm owner or just a supporter of local agriculture, you can create listings and suggest edits to ensure our directory stays up to date."

Suggested edits are proposals, not direct changes — the listing owner or platform review handles them.

What you get from being listed

Common snags

• Your farm is already listed but you can't find the claim option. Try searching by exact farm name; listings added by community members may have slightly different names than you'd use.
• You're not sure whether to create or claim. Search first. Creating a duplicate listing for a farm that already exists splits reviews and favorites across two pages.
• You want to list a farm you don't own. That's allowed — the platform invites supporters to list "a favorite community farm" — but you won't have owner-level control, and the actual owner can later claim it.
• Pricing questions. The site states "It's free to get started" for farm owners joining the network. No paid tiers or payment details appear in the available material, so treat any cost beyond that as unconfirmed.

The short version

Sign up free, search for your farm, then either claim it (if it exists) or create it (if it doesn't). Claiming is the better path when available because it comes with owner control and the platform's stated visibility boost. Either way, the goal is the same: show up accurately in a directory built to connect local producers with nearby buyers.

Local Picks is a directory and community platform for connecting people with local farms, markets, and gardens. Beyond finding food, it offers several community features: you can follow friends to see their favorite farms, reviews, and products; invite people by email; browse recent reviews from other members; and help the directory grow by creating listings or suggesting edits. Most of these features sit behind a free account, so signing up is the practical first step.

Following friends and seeing their picks

The platform explicitly frames itself as being about more than farms: it's also about "connecting with the people who love them." The Find Friends feature lets you search for people by name, email, or username.

Once you follow someone, their activity becomes a signal for you — the site describes following friends as a way to "see their favorite farms, reviews, and products." In practice, this means a friend's review of a farm or a product they saved can surface in your view, which is useful when you're deciding where to shop or what's in season nearby.

To use it:

1. Create or log into a free account.
2. Open the Find Friends search.
3. Enter a name, email, or username.
4. Follow the person to see their farms, reviews, and products.

A likely snag: search works on the identifiers above, so if you only know a nickname that isn't their username, you may not find them. Asking for their exact username or email is the reliable route.

Inviting people by email

Local Picks builds invitations directly into the platform. The Invite feature works like this: you enter an email address, and the platform prepares the message for you. You then "open, review, and hit send" — meaning the message isn't fired off automatically; you get to check it first.

This matters if you're trying to get a friend, neighbor, or a farm owner you know onto the platform. You control the final send, so you can confirm the recipient and wording before it goes out.

Browsing reviews from the community

The See what's happening section shows recent activity from other members, including reviews of local farms and products. The site's own example is a review of Sprangers Orchard described as an "amazing spot for apples," with reactions (hearts, claps, and similar) attached to reviews.

Reviews are the main way the community shares first-hand experience. If you're new, reading a few recent reviews is a fast way to judge which nearby farms or markets are worth a visit — and if you've already been somewhere, posting a review is how you contribute back.

Helping the directory grow

Two features let any member — farm owner or not — improve the platform:

• Create and Manage Listings — add your own business or a favorite community farm so it appears on the map.
• Claim Listings and Suggest Edits — suggest corrections to existing listings, or claim a farm you own to get enhanced visibility.

The site states it's free to get started for farm owners, and that its network covers over 14,000 farms and markets (the homepage also cites over 18,000 listings). If you own a farm, claiming your listing is the step that gives you control over how it appears; if you're just a supporter, suggesting edits is the lighter-weight way to keep the directory accurate.

What you need before any of this

Every community feature above assumes an account. The site's own call to action is "Get started with a free account," which it says unlocks the features described here — saving favorites, managing listings, claiming listings, and staying notified when your favorites become available.

So the sequence is: sign up, then follow friends, invite others, read and write reviews, and contribute listings or edits. If you only want to browse farms and products without participating, you can still explore the site — but the social and contribution features are tied to having an account.

You can get started on Local Picks by creating a free account, then using it to save favorite farms and products, create and manage listings, claim a farm you own, and suggest edits to existing listings. Local Picks describes itself as a community connecting people with local producers of fresh, affordable products, with over 18,000 listings in its page evidence (the site also references over 14,000 farms and markets in its farm-owner section). The steps below follow what the site itself presents.

Create your free account

1. Go to localpicks.org.
2. Use the Sign Up option (the page also shows a Sign Me Up! button and a Get started with a free account section).
3. Complete the sign-up to unlock the platform's features.

The site states it is free to get started. It does not publish pricing details beyond that, so treat any future paid tiers as unconfirmed.

What you unlock after signing in

Once signed in, the page lists these capabilities:

• Save Your Favorites — keep track of the farms and products you like.
• Create and Manage Listings — add your own business or a community farm you want to put on the map.
• Claim Listings and Suggest Edits — propose improvements to existing listings, or claim a farm you own for enhanced visibility.
• Stay Up to Date — get notified when your favorites become available.

Find farms and producers

Local Picks is built around discovery. You can browse listings and read recent reviews from other members. The page shows an example review for Sprangers Orchard, described as "Amazing spot for apples!" — a signal that reviews are tied to specific farms and products.

To search, use the Find Farms area and the site's search. Results reflect the listings other users and owners have added, so coverage depends on community contributions in your area.

Connect with other members

Local Picks also supports a social layer:

• Find Friends — search by name, email, or username.
• Follow friends — see their favorite farms, reviews, and products.
• Invite — enter an email and the site prepares a message for you to open, review, and send.

Add or claim a listing

If you own a farm or want to help the directory stay current:

• Create a Listing — add your business or a favorite community farm.
• Suggest a Feature — send feedback on the platform itself.
• Claim a farm you own — take control of an existing listing for enhanced visibility.
• Suggest edits — improve details on listings you don't own.

Farm owners are invited to join a network the site describes as over 14,000 farms and markets to reach more customers.

Common snags to expect

• Listing coverage varies by area. Because listings come from the community, a sparse region may show few results.
• Claiming requires ownership. The claim option is meant for farms you own; edits are the path for everything else.
• Notifications depend on favorites. The "stay up to date" feature works from the farms and products you've saved, so save first.
• Invites are manual. The invite flow prepares an email for you to review and send rather than sending it automatically.

Start by signing up, saving a few nearby farms, and then deciding whether you want to contribute a listing or claim one you own.

Local Picks is a community directory that connects you with nearby farms, markets, and gardens. To find producers and products in your area, you can browse listings, read community reviews, follow friends for recommendations, and set notifications for the farms you care about. Most of these features sit behind a free account, so signing up is the practical first step if you want to save favorites or get updates.

Create a free account first

The site states it is free to get started, and a free account unlocks the features that make searching useful rather than one-off.

1. Go to the Local Picks homepage.
2. Select Sign Up (the page also shows a Sign Me Up! button).
3. Complete registration to create your free account.
4. Log in when you return so your favorites and notifications persist.

Without an account you can still read what's on the page, but saving farms and receiving availability alerts requires being signed in.

Find farms and products

Local Picks describes itself as a directory with thousands of active listings (the homepage references both "over 14,000" and "over 18,000" listings in different sections), covering farms, markets, and gardens.

• Use the site's search and browse functions to look for producers in your area.
• Open a listing to see the farm or market and the products associated with it.
• Check the listing details before visiting, since hours, availability, and product ranges are set by each producer.

If you already know a farm's name, searching directly is faster than browsing. If you're exploring, start from the listings near you and narrow down by what you want to buy.

Use reviews to find what's actually good

The See what's happening section surfaces recent reviews from other community members, which is useful for judging a farm before you make a trip.

• Reviews include a star rating and a short written note. For example, one listed review gives a farm five stars with the comment "Amazing spot for apples!"
• Reviews also show reactions (the page displays counts for heart, clap, and broken-heart responses), so you can gauge how others responded.
• You can page through reviews with the left and right arrows to see more than the most recent ones.

Treat reviews as a starting signal, not a guarantee — a farm that's great for apples in one season may have little else available at another time.

Follow friends for recommendations

Local Picks is built around people as well as producers. Following others lets you see the farms, reviews, and products they favor, which can surface places you'd never find by searching alone.

1. Go to the Find Friends on Local Picks section.
2. Use the search field to look up someone by name, email, or username.
3. Follow them to see their activity.
4. To bring someone new onto the platform, use the Invite option: enter an email address, and Local Picks prepares a message for you to open, review, and send.

This works best if the people you follow share your tastes or live nearby — a friend's favorite farm two hours away is less useful than one down the road.

Set notifications so you don't miss new products

The Stay Up to Date feature notifies you when new products and listings appear in your area, and specifically when items from your favorites become available.

• Save farms and products you like so they can trigger updates.
• Watch for notifications about new listings near you.
• Because availability is seasonal and set by each producer, notifications are more reliable than checking a farm page on a fixed schedule.

If you own or know a farm

The directory depends on community contributions, and you can help keep it current:

• Create a listing for your own business or a community farm you want to see on the map.
• Claim a listing you own to get enhanced visibility.
• Suggest edits to correct or improve existing listings.

The site says it is free to get started for farm owners as well, and frames listing as a way to reach more customers.

Quick reference

The main limitation to keep in mind: Local Picks is a directory and community layer, not a store. It tells you who's nearby and what others think, but you still confirm current products and hours with each producer before you go.

Local Picks is a community directory that connects people with local producers of fresh food — farms, markets, and gardens — in their area. If you want to find nearby producers, save favorites, or list a farm you own, you can do all of that on the platform. It's built for two audiences at once: people looking for local food, and producers who want to be found.

What Local Picks actually is

Local Picks describes itself as a community connecting local producers of fresh, affordable products with the people who want to enjoy them. The directory covers farms, markets, and gardens, and the site reports over 18,000 listings (its marketing copy elsewhere cites "over 14,000 farms and markets" for the producer network).

The core idea is simple: instead of searching across scattered farm stands and market pages, you browse one directory organized around your area.

What you can do as a visitor

The platform's homepage highlights a set of features aimed at everyday users:

• Find farms and products — browse listings of local producers near you.
• Save your favorites — keep track of the farms and products you care about.
• Read and leave reviews — see what other community members recommend. The homepage shows recent reviews, such as a user's note about an orchard being "an amazing spot for apples."
• Follow friends — see their favorite farms, reviews, and products, and invite others to join.
• Get notified — receive updates when new products and listings appear in your area, or when your favorites become available.

A free account is what unlocks these features. The site states you can "get started with a free account" to access them, and it also offers a log-in option for returning users.

What you can do as a farm owner or supporter

Local Picks isn't only for shoppers. The site invites both farm owners and local-agriculture supporters to help keep the directory current:

• Create listings — put your own business or a favorite community farm on the map.
• Claim listings — take control of a farm you own for enhanced visibility.
• Suggest edits — propose improvements to existing listings.
• Market your farm — the site says it's free to get started and describes joining a network of over 14,000 farms and markets to reach more customers.

How to get started

1. Go to localpicks.org.
2. Sign up for a free account (or log in if you already have one).
3. Search for farms, markets, or products in your area.
4. Save the ones you like and follow friends to see their picks.
5. If you own a farm, create or claim a listing; if you just want to help, suggest edits to keep listings accurate.

The bottom line

Local Picks works as a two-sided directory: shoppers use it to discover and track local food producers, while producers use it to get discovered. The features that matter most — searching, saving, reviewing, and listing — all sit behind a free account, so signing up is the practical first step whether you're buying or selling.