By Celeste Simmons

REXBURG — The Rexburg Farmers Market is back for its 2023 season.

A number of vendors have been preparing all year to make their debut at the market. Among these hardworking vendors is Fruta and More. This is their first year at the market.

Fruta and More sells classic Mexican desserts like tres leches cake, fruit cups with Tajin, flan, horchata, and esquite.

“We just wanted to try something new. We like the farmers market and we saw how good it is, so we were like ‘What if we try it’,” said Alejandra.

Alejandra is from Mexico and has been in the United States for 6 years. She currently works as a virtual construction designer along with taking classes at BYU-Idaho.

Fruta and More plans on selling at the market throughout the whole summer.

Another first-time vendor is Scott Sweet. He is selling original acrylic paintings of various mountain ranges and landscapes in the area.

Sweet is originally from Texas and fell in love with the scenery when he started school at BYU-Idaho. He started painting five years ago when he started exploring about a four-hour radius around Rexburg.

“My favorite part about it all is capturing the emotion of being there. The moment I took that picture, or the day I was just exploring and saw a moose, or saw the mountains with the perfect color on them, is indescribable. Being able to express that is so valuable to me. This is God, this is peace. It’s really personal,” Sweet said.

Sweet will be selling his paintings at the Rexburg and Idaho Falls farmers markets all summer.

A few booths down was a vendor who has been selling at the market for four years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, David had a lot of free time on his hands, which resulted in a plethora of colorful beaded bracelets and necklaces. He didn’t know what to do with them, so he thought it would be a good idea to sell them locally.

David is a high school student in Rigby and hopes that the skills he learns with his small business will help prepare him for life.

“I hope to learn how to sell stuff to people. That definitely is a good skill. Not just selling stuff, but working with people. I also have to make some money to get ready for life,” David said.

David calls his business “David’s Designs: Handmade Jewelry.” Bracelets sell for $7 and necklaces sell for $12.

The farmers market has tasty treats, beautiful artwork, handmade crafts, and it also has fresh greens! Nature’s Greens is run by Marvin Frandsen. He grows sprouts that are packed with essential nutrients, and they even taste like various plants: sunflowers, radishes, broccoli, and more.

Frandsen started eating healthy in his late age and started growing the sprouts to improve his health. He’s passionate about sharing his healthy sprouts with the community.

“I’m really not in the business to make money, I’m in the business to teach people about good nutrition,” Frandsen said.

Frandsen is looking forward to meeting new people at the farmers market and seeing if they’ll switch over to eating healthier foods.

“Everytime that they come here and they come back in a couple of weeks and get some more, that tells me that they’re on the right path. It makes it a lot more satisfying for me to see,” Frandsen said.

Nature’s Greens sells each bag of sprouts for $5.

As summer begins, there’s no better place to be than the Rexburg Farmers Market to get a sense of Rexburg’s small town charm. Located at the Madison County Fairgrounds, the market will be open every Friday starting at 4 p.m. It will be open until October 6.

Find the latest information about the Rexburg Farmers Market at the market’s website.