Downtown Farmers' Market returns better than ever

Get ready for all things fruits, vegetables, crafts and arts when the Downtown Farmers’ Market returns to the Court Avenue District in downtown Des Moines for the 41st year. Dubbed one of the top farmers markets in the country by Shape magazine and Midwest Living magazine, the 300-vendor strong event features producers from 58 Iowa counties, all driving in to make that 7 a.m. opening time on May 7.

This year, the market anticipates 40,000 people visiting on opening day and walking the sprawling nine blocks of booths brimming with fresh produce, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, Iowa meats and more. Asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, leafy lettuce, tomatoes, morel mushrooms and fresh herbs are expected to be at the peak of ripeness on opening day.

Kelly Foss, the director of the market for the past 16 years, has been busy stocking the market with new vendors and retaining old. In all, her staff of one other full-time person and four seasonal employees brought in 39 new vendors to the mix.

“This is the busiest time of the year, the weeks leading into the market opening,” she said.

This season, the market embraces the theme “Feed Your Soul,” a slogan Foss said comes from her experience talking with vendors and shoppers.

“The idea is to get to the weekend and take a breath and feed your soul. Feed your body the nutrients it needs and also feed your soul from all the chaos in your life,” she said. “That’s the message I get from people. It’s something that people can’t explain when they go to the market.”

Indeed, visitors this year can unearth a whole new crop of vendors to feed their souls. Expect to find Pasta of the Prairie, a Readlyn maker of artisan pastas and dry soup mixes.

“We haven’t had someone focused on pastas ad handmade varieties,” Foss said.

Noah’s Raw Chocolate out of Fairfield brings gourmet raw chocolate bars and cups. Two new beef producers — 2XL Premium Angus LLC from Garden Grove and West Forty Enterprises LLC from Greene — ramp up the proteins offered with grass-fed or hormone-free and naturally raised beef, respectively.

“We spend a lot of time recruiting and always focusing on quality and not quantity,” she said. “We’re not just filling slots in the street.”

New farms dish out chemical-free produce and flowers, certified organic products and more. Foss says terms used by shoppers such as raw food guided the search for new vendors. Even the dog lover now has three new bakers with their own different takes on dog treats.

New artists make the cut. Stamped Metal Jewelry from Pleasant Hill brings just what the name suggests, while Strange Pagan Art & Design from Tama creates hand-crafted woodwork, prints and skateboards.

“We want to make sure we’re keeping up with the trends,” Foss said of the new vendors.

UnityPoint Health-Des Moines returns as a sponsor, offering weekly recipes using produce from the market along with different activities in the health care provider’s booth. May 7 focuses on nurses dressed in superhero costumes. Kids can stop by to decorate a superhero mask of their own while parents can walk away with a free apron. Also find a selfie booth, where everyone can snap a photo and hashtag it with #DTFM.

Super shoppers may want to participate in Rise & Shine deals, where five different discounts arrive on your phone on Fridays. Just text “Market” to 46986 to join.

Last year, the farmers market donated 140,000 pounds of food through the Meals from the Market program, an idea Foss said vendors developed. That gets distributed to 13 food banks in the Des Moines area. This year, the goal is to donate 150,000 pounds of food.

“They don’t want to take it back home and throw it in the ditch,” Foss said.

Patrons can even donate food they purchase to the cause at a booth on the corner of Second Avenue and Court Avenue.

In all, the Downtown Farmers’ Market represents five different cheese vendors, including the new Simple Life Farms with its goat's milk products, 21 bakers selling everything from breads and scones to cookies and cakes, 92 farmers with bumper crops of fresh produce, eight local wine producers and 36 food artisans dabbling in salsas, mustards, jams, dressings, spice mixes, granolas, kimchi, sauerkraut, hummus and kombucha. Throughout the six-month season that takes over downtown Des Moines for 26 weeks, a portion of vendors will swap out to add some variety to the market as well.

“Opening day is sort of like a blessing that spring has arrived and the growing season is starting,” Foss said.

If you go

What: Downtown Farmers’ Market

Find It: 300 Court Ave.

Info: desmoinesfarmersmarket.com

Hours: 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through September, 8 a.m. to noon in October

Downtown Farmers’ Market by the numbers

650,000 visitors in 2015

25,000 anticipated every Saturday

Nine city blocks

Five artisanal cheese makers

21 bakers covering breads, pastries, scones, cookies and cakes

92 farmers, producers and growers bringing fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs and plants

36 artisan and gourmet food producers bringing salsas, mustards, jams, dressings, spice mixes, granolas, kimchi, sauerkraut, hummus and kombucha

Eight local wine producers

250 bikes parked by the bike valet

86 performers featured all season, including 10 every Saturday

140,000 pounds of food donated to through the Meals from the Market program

Two full-time staff

Four seasonal staff

26 Saturdays

Six months