The Farmer’s Larder will open Saturday, November 21st at 900 S. High St. Owner Jamie Pritchard is billing it as German Village’s go-to local grocer, and her About page makes the case. The pitch is food the way the farmers who grow it eat: pasture-raised meat, fresh produce and milk, local bread and locally milled grains.
Pritchard runs WIT Farm, which raises beef, pork, chicken, turkey and duck on pasture. She sells that meat at the German Village Farmers Market, and the store grew out of what she noticed there. After seven years at the market, she writes on the About page, German Village had nowhere to pick up a loaf of bread, some eggs and milk except on Saturday mornings. The farm’s name comes from her husband, Kyle. WIT stands for Whatever It Takes, a phrase he picked up in the Marine Corps, according to Columbus Frontline.
What’s On The Shelves
Pritchard’s target is about 90 percent local stock, with the other 10 percent gourmet food she can’t source in Ohio. The producers page names the first suppliers: Truest Farms, another livestock farm; The Farmstead Market for seasonal fruit and vegetables; The Baker’s Rack for baked goods and jam; and Anna Bakes Things for sourdough, babka and focaccia.
Prepared food is a big part of the plan. Pritchard’s fundraising page gives the example of friends coming over with nothing planned and a quick walk to the Larder for fresh pasta, meatballs, a sauce, a salad kit and ready-to-heat garlic bread. Party platters are on the list too, and so are Farm Shares, bundles of meat, produce, milk and eggs that customers can put on a subscription.
Thanksgiving preorders are already open on the online shop, for pickup on November 24th and 25th. The menu runs from turkey breasts, cider gravy and mashed potatoes to green bean casserole, dinner rolls, dressing and a lineup of pies. The banner on the homepage says to order the holiday dinner by November 20th, the day before the store opens.
Why German Village
The idea got its push when Chapman’s Eat Market closed on Third Street in August 2025. WIT Farm had supplied the restaurant, and Pritchard told Columbus Frontline that the request she kept seeing from German Village neighbors online never changed: “We need a grocery store, we need a convenience store.” She had thought about opening a market in her hometown for years, but it only has about 600 residents, according to What Now Columbus, so the neighborhood where she already had customers won out.
Pritchard launched a Givebutter campaign in March with a startup estimate of $135,000: $25,000 for the lease and build-out, $25,000 for equipment, $50,000 for inventory and $35,000 for working capital and licenses. The campaign’s original goal was to open on July 4th. It had raised $9,939 from 40 supporters as of October 27th, and the opening is now set for November.
The pig on the logo is a real one. Her name is Freckles. She’s the Pritchards’ pet, and she weighs more than 600 pounds.
