Coll’s Farm

A typical rural country farm stand/​store set high upon a hill over looking a small valley and the family farm on the opposite hillside. The entrance way to the market is festooned with beautiful Fall flowers providing a patch work of Autumn colors to welcome and greet each visitor. Inside is what one would expect in a small cozy country farm market, the interior turns the clock back to a much more genteel and unhurried period leaving the high glitz of today’s supermarket chains in the rear view mirror, at least for a short period of time. Fresh produce is beautifully displayed so too apples and maple syrup products; there is even a section devoted to penny candy which is no longer a penny but certainly reminds one of the time when candy was much less expensive. If you are in the area this would be a grand spot to stop and reflect on times as they once were.

We were a bit early for most farm veggies to be in stock, but there was still enough local goods and unique touristy foodstuffs to entice you to open your wallet!
…but the best lies within the Deli — Simple –order at the counter deal but the menu is more then fun! …and just begs for you to want to return. They also are GF friendly!
, and you can tell it’s popular when local workers are stopping in for a lunch that hits the spot! (and the pickles are great too!) A pleasant sunny afternoon on the patio with a charming countryside view tops it all off!
A visit made to not be hurried.

It is worth taking a drive to Coll’s just for the view! You drive up a steep driveway to the top of a hill and the sweeping view of the surrounding countryside is just lovely.
I rely on Coll’s for two specific items. Their free range organic eggs for one, from chickens you can walk over and talk to! Happy hens make happy eggs. I also rely on Coll’s for their maple syrup. I love visiting their maple sugar shack when they are making it.
Coll’s also stocks a wide variety of organic canned and packaged goods, so it is a great place to load up on pantry items.

Customer service has gotten better. In the past myself or my husband has had questions & the staff member rarely knew the answer or wouldn’t take the time to find the answer for us, but it’s gotten better. The staff is much friendlier than in past years.
They sell eggs from their own chickens, sell local cheeses, local milk (from Shaw Farm in Mass & Manning Hill Farm in Winchester, NH), honey from Dublin, their own cider & their own maple syrup (when it is in season). They sell local produce when it’s in season & it’s usually marked. They sell their own corn & winter squash when it is in season. Flour, a basic selection of dried beans, grains, seeds, spices, nuts, basic selection of rice, popping corn, seeds for sprouting, oatmeals, carob, etc sold in bulk at reasonable prices. You can grind your own fresh nut butter & they have several varieties of nuts to choose from. NEW — they have chocolate peanut butter ground fresh. YUMMY!!! Honey & syrup in bulk at reasonable prices. Antibiotic & hormone-​free deli meat, decent selection of deli items including cheeses, reasonably priced, same thing with butchered meat items like steak, tips, etc. They sell bread for I believe 3 local bakeries — The People’s Bakery, Kernel Bakery, & Orchard Hill Breadworks. You can juice your own orange juice here. They also began selling Merry Berry frozen yogurt after Merry Berry closed up shop on Main Street in town.
They have a basic selection of rice & beans in the bulk bins, & it’s cheaper here than Maggie’s in Peterborough or Blueberry Fields in Keene, but for the more «exotic» stuff, when I want to get a funky kind of rice or bean I’ll go to Maggie’s instead.
Just be careful with some of the shelf-​stable stuff. We bought a bottle of worcester sauce last year (2012) that expired in 2010. We didn’t get sick from it, thankfully, just be mindful of expiration dates when buying stuff off of the shelves. They have a smattering selection of non-​organic, shelf-​stable stuff. We’ll sometimes pick up an odd thing from here if we don’t feel like driving all of the way to Market Basket for one item.
.02 refund per tote bag you use but they don’t do the 2% discount for using cash or writing a check any more, FYI.
FYI — they’ve also stopped carrying organic produce. They used to have a wonderful selection of organic apples, one or two kinds of organic white potatoes, & organic sweet potatoes, organic avocados, oranges, lemons, grape fruit, grapes, berries, etc. But over the past year the quality of the apples has slowly gone downhill & they’d stop carrying a few things at a time, it seemed, & now they just don’t carry any organic produce at all, which is frustrating. All of Maggie’s produce is organic though, FYI.

Coll’s is fabulous. A farmer’s market open year round with fruits and veggies, local honey, organics, baking supplies, a meat counter, and a deli with sandwiches. I always find something I need or want.