The McCutcheon/Mount Vernon Farmers Market has five Wednesday mornings left in 2026. The last one is Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. After that, the Sherwood Library parking lot at 2501 Sherwood Hall Lane goes quiet until spring. This year there are no December market days for holiday baking or cookie trays. For Sulgrave Village and the rest of Fort Hunt, any holiday shopping at the market has to fit between now and Thanksgiving Eve.
A Season That Used to Run Into December
The 2026 dates come from the Fairfax County Park Authority's season announcement. It lists McCutcheon/Mount Vernon on Wednesdays from April 22 through Nov. 25, 8 a.m. to noon. The same announcement says Fairfax runs farmers markets at 10 locations. Among the other Wednesday markets, Oakmont and Wakefield both close Oct. 28, so Sherwood Hall Lane outlasts them by four weeks.
Even so, the end of the season has moved earlier than it used to be. In spring 2023, The Zebra listed the market as open Wednesdays through Dec. 20.
| Season | Last listed market day | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | The Zebra, May 2023 |
| 2026 | Wednesday, Nov. 25 | Fairfax County Park Authority, April 2026 |
That's almost four weeks of December gone. In 2023, the stretch between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays still had market mornings. In 2026, the season ends the day before Thanksgiving.
The market's name has history behind it. The same Zebra piece describes the late Gil McCutcheon as a fixture for 26 years at the market he helped start in the Sherwood Hall Library lot. He was a Marlan Forest resident, and so many people knew him as the "Mayor of the Market" that the market now carries his name.
Five Wednesdays, Counted Backward From the Turkey
When the last market falls the day before Thanksgiving, start planning from Nov. 25 and work backward.
| Wednesday | What to know |
|---|---|
| Oct. 28 | Regular market, 8 a.m. to noon. A good morning to ask vendors what they're planning for November. |
| Nov. 4 | Regular market. Still three weeks before the holiday, enough time to place orders. |
| Nov. 11 | Regular market. Two Wednesdays left after this one. |
| Nov. 18 | Fabled Ice Cream's trike is scheduled. |
| Nov. 25 | Last market of the season, the day before Thanksgiving. |
The Nov. 18 date comes from Alexandria Brief, which listed Fabled's trike at the market from 8 a.m. to noon. Its other listed date, Oct. 21, has already passed. Nov. 25 is the market's final day of the year, so it's no place to start shopping for anything that needs to be ordered ahead.
What the Late-Fall Tables Carry
The market's Nov. 18 event listing on Marketspread shows 27 vendors and 233 products. Vegetables lead with 68 items, baked goods follow with 62, and meat has 8. The listing warns that vendors may not bring every product shown, so treat it as a guide to who sells what, not a promise for any given morning.
Sorted by where they'd land on a Thanksgiving table:
- Side dishes: Linda Vista Farm lists beets, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Three Way Farm Produce lists winter squash.
- Fruit and the main course: Valentine's Bakery & Meats lists apples and turkey. Its catalog entries also include cranberries.
- Dessert: Grace's Pastries lists pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. The Good Stuff Bakery lists assorted holiday cookie trays.
- For the host or the cheese board: BlackStone Honey Bee Farms lists honey from $10 to $36. Suka Nuts lists Bourbon Maple Pecans at $14.95, Cajun Lime Peanuts at $9.95 and Chocolate Covered Butter Pecan Toffee at $10.95.
The holiday cookie trays show what the shorter season costs. In a year with December markets, a tray like that could be picked up the week of a holiday party. This year the last chance at the market is Nov. 25. The Good Stuff Bakery's product page also says local pickup isn't available for the trays, so ask the bakery directly how holiday orders work.
The Turkey Question
The Thanksgiving Eve close only matters for one item if you wait until that morning to buy it. Last year, Valentine's Bakery & Meats showed how a farm turkey order can work with this market's schedule.
In October 2025, the Mount Vernon Gazette reported that longtime vendor Valentine Miller was taking turkey orders at the Wednesday market. His family raises about 50 free-range turkeys on pastures in Orange County, Virginia. That year's birds weighed 14 to 20 pounds and cost $8.99 a pound, with orders taken until the turkeys ran out. Pickup was offered at the Falls Church market on Nov. 22 or at the Mount Vernon market on Nov. 26, 2025, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Those terms were for 2025. Price, weight range and pickup dates for 2026 haven't been announced. If this year follows last year's pattern, the market's final morning would also be turkey pickup day, and the order would need to be placed weeks earlier at one of the Wednesdays above. "Until he runs out" was the 2025 cutoff. Asking at the Valentine's table on Oct. 28 or Nov. 4 is the simplest way to find out this year's version.
Small Logistics for a November Market Morning
A few county rules affect what you bring on a bigger holiday trip.
Fairfax County Farmers Markets have been plastic-free since 2025. Vendors use reusable or compostable alternatives instead of single-use plastic bags, so bring your own sturdy bags for squash and cabbage or use the on-site bag-share. All 10 county markets also take food scraps from home for composting. Yard waste isn't accepted, but a November market trip is a natural time to drop off a container of scraps.
For shoppers using benefits, the county says SNAP EBT is accepted at select markets. You exchange benefits for tokens at the information tent and can receive up to $40 in additional fruits and vegetables each market day. Marketspread lists SNAP/EBT, Virginia Fresh Match, Senior FMNP and WIC FMNP for McCutcheon/Mount Vernon. With five market days left, that extra produce is available up to five more times this year.
What Carries Past Nov. 25
Fabled Ice Cream is one local food business with plans running past the market's close. The Zebra reported that founder Ally Kirkpatrick, who also owns Old Town Books, will offer nine-inch ice cream pies in November. One is butternut squash ice cream with a graham cracker crust, which fits the same Thanksgiving dessert table as Grace's pumpkin pie. In December she plans a "12 Days of Ice Cream" with seasonal flavors such as peppermint stick and hot cocoa.
The permanent Fabled shop is planned for 7940 Fort Hunt Road in Hollin Hall, in the former Hairvisions space, with an expected opening in May 2027, according to Alexandria Living Magazine. Until then, the Nov. 18 market is the scheduled trike date on Sherwood Hall Lane. Ask Fabled there how to get the November pies.
The county schedule has no McCutcheon/Mount Vernon dates after Nov. 25. Vendors who sell online or at other markets, like Valentine's with its Falls Church pickup last year, may still be reachable in December. The Sherwood Library lot itself is done for 2026 once the Thanksgiving Eve market packs up at noon.
If you have a favorite late-season vendor, a turkey order you already trust, or a December tip for after the market closes, we'd love to hear it at Lauren Kolazas. We keep the I Heart Fort Hunt calendar current so neighbors can plan around dates like Nov. 25. Let's Connect.
