Gooseberry Acres Market & Bakery

10/08/2026

That feeling when you step back and realize all of the work that’s happened over the past 4-6 months! 😵‍💫

We’re getting so close to finally opening our market and bakery in downtown Dwight, IL. If you’ve stopped by our storefront lately, you’re sure to have seen Kong Construction INC putting in the work to help us transform the space into something incredible.

There’s lots to consider when opening a food establishment, so we’re making sure to check off all the boxes for health and safety… and then we can decorate and make it cozy!

We’ll announce a grand opening date as soon as we know it and have a big celebration with everyone 🙌 🥳

10/08/2026

Join us tomorrow from 4-8 PM in Gardner! We’ll have your favorite baked goods on hand and a few special treats, too!

🤤 Meredith’s sourdough cinnamon rolls
🍞 Sourdough loaves
🍕 Sourdough pizza crusts
😋 Homemade granola

Check out the info below!

Join us for Gather in Gardner on Friday, October 9, from 4–8 PM on Depot Street! Shop local vendors, enjoy delicious food and treats, explore our downtown businesses, and bring the kids for FREE family fun! Enter to WIN our vendor-donated raffle basket 1 ticket for $5 or 3 tickets for $12. We can’t wait to gather with you!

09/23/2026

September has brought a lot of changes to our little farm and market gardens.

It’s time to say goodbye to our hoophouse tomatoes and peppers. We’re using a blend of fermented seaweed, fish, and molasses packed with beneficial soil bacteria to stimulate the soil for a spring planting. After soaking the beds, we’re layering in organic compost and covering it for the winter.

The cool air has settled and the leaves are beginning to change. Plenty of pretty wildflowers are still blooming, including goldenrod, aster, chamomile, and more. So many butterflies and bees have been stocking up on their last-minute pollen and nectar.

And, finally, we spent time at our annual fall festival, Harvest Fest, in Dwight. Owen won basically every stuffed animal he could.

Good news on the storefront is coming soon!

09/15/2026

Chicago friends! Check out Wild Onion Market this week for some yummy heirloom tomatoes and great meal ideas. 🍅 😋

Need a cute dinner (or date) night idea? We’ve got you!

…and so do these delicious heirloom tomatoes from Gooseberry Acres Farm and mixed cherry tomatoes from Good Soil Farms, plus local—huge—basil bunches 🍅🌿

Montebello’s rigatoni scoops up this easy one-pan pasta dish, which would be incomplete without Parmesan basil butter from Skokie Provisions 🧀

And, for those who enjoy a little glass of vino, we’d pair this meal with Cabernet Franc from Limited Addition 🍷

Happy dining!

09/08/2026

Summer is winding down at Gooseberry Acres, whether we’re ready for it or not.

This Saturday will likely be your last chance to shop our summer harvest before we turn the gardens toward fall. We’ll be bringing what we can pick from the farm, and when it’s gone, that’s it for the season. 😭

It’s also the last of the blueberries!! We saved enough to make one final batch of our blueberry sweet rolls, and after Saturday, they’ll be off the bakery menu until blueberry season comes around again next year. 🫐

There will be plenty more from the bakery too: sourdough cinnamon rolls, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, classic + jalapeño cheddar sourdough, espresso chocolate sourdough, take & bake pizza crusts, and toast & jam.

So come to Blackbird Common | Dwight for breakfast, fill a bag with the last of summer, and grab a bouquet of farm flowers.

So Long, Summer! Market Morning
Saturday, September 12 | 9 AM–Noon
Blackbird Common | 116 E. Main St., Dwight

Grown here. Baked here. 🌱 🥖

09/07/2026

Harvesting ‘maters for this week’s Chicago orders. 🍅 These beautiful heirlooms are going to one of our favorite places to grab lunch in the Fulton Market neighborhood.

Want some? We’ll have these and more at our final pop-up market of the season! Join us Saturday at Blackbird Common (116 E Main St., Dwight).

The vines were topped weeks ago after reaching the top of the hoop house. Pretty soon we’ll say goodbye to our tomato vines and prepare the soil for what’s next!

Bonus shot: Loofahs are really growing! We’ve got around 20 or so, some as long as Luke’s arm! 😱

09/06/2026

PRODUCE SPOTLIGHT 🌶️ Shish*to Peppers!

These little green waxy peppers are, hands down, one of our favorite snacks at Gooseberry Acres. Shish*tos are mild peppers with a wonderful savory flavor. Leave them on the vine a little longer and they’ll develop a sweetness!

You can munch on them raw, but we recommend our favorite way to prepare them:

- Heat a little olive oil in a pan
- Add the peppers and let them blister on one side
- Sprinkle some sea salt and let them cool
- While they cool, mix your favorite mayo and spicy sauce for dipping!

Come by Blackbird Common | Dwight on Saturday, Sept. 12 to get some Shish*tos for your table! 😋

08/27/2026

We’ve apparently chosen a color theme for the last Saturday Market of the season, and the garden decided it should be purple. 💜

This Saturday we’re bringing Cherokee Purple tomatoes, purple bell peppers, purple potatoes and plenty more of the late-summer harvest to the Dwight Farmer’s Market, along with a wonderful bakery lineup.

From the farm: raw honey, heirloom tomatoes, poblanos, shish*tos, Hungarian peppers, jalapeños, eggplant, garlic, okra and those very good-looking purple bells.

From the bakery: sourdough loaves, sourdough pizza crusts, blueberry sweet rolls and cinnamon rolls.

And this one is worth making a point to catch: Saturday is the final Dwight Saturday Market of the 2026 season. Come stock up, grab a roll for breakfast, and help us send off the DWC Saturday market season with a good crowd. Note the location change!!!

Saturday, August 29 | 8 AM–Noon
📍 Emmanuel Lutheran in Dwight

Not quite ready to say goodbye to summer? Yeah, we aren’t either. But autumn is upon us! We’ll be back with the last of summer’s harvest and our bakery goodies on Saturday, September 12 from 9 AM–Noon at Blackbird Common for our late-summer market morning event.

Until then, the garden is taking a little inspiration from Dolly Parton and giving purple the attention it deserves. 💜

08/25/2026

RENOVATION UPDATE 📢 The market is quickly coming together! Check out the progress! 🙌

We had a grand vision for what we wanted the space to do and how it should flow with our plans. We didn’t know too much about the process of making that happen, but we found the right crew to make it work.

Thankfully, we’ve got Jay and his team, who have been incredibly helpful in translating our thoughts into reality. Kong Construction puts in the work and comes through with quality and know-how!