May 2, 2024

A sure sign of spring is opening day of the Falls Park Farmers Market.

That happens Saturday in downtown Sioux Falls, when more than 30 vendors begin selling their vegetables, fruits, flowers, breads, coffee and more at the open air market.

Several new vendors will join the market this year, including Sunny Side Up, which will serve breakfast foods like Hawaiian roll French toast, breakfast burritos and sandwiches, baked goods and flavored lemonades. Other newcomers are Leifstyle Baking, which makes sourdough bread, and Just Fudge It, which sells chocolates, candies and desserts.

“When you bring in people who weren’t there before, it gives the crowd that comes every Saturday or every year to see something new,” said John Wesselius, who is a board member of the market and also owns The Cornucopia, which has been selling at the market since 2005.

“I happen to really enjoy being a vendor at the market, and my hope is that people enjoy coming and have a good experience,” he said. The Cornucopia sells about 40 different varieties of vegetables. “I love to eat and prepare food. We grow a wide variety of vegetables, basically everything except sweet corn, and I raise some chickens and eggs.”

New vendors

Leifstyle Baking, owned by baker Pearl Leiferman, is one of the new vendors this year. For Leiferman, it’s a dream come true.

She began with a sourdough starter she got from a friend at church. She let it sit in the refrigerator for a while, unsure of how to start.

“At first, I was terrified. I don’t mess with anything fermented,” Leiferman said. “One day I took it out, and I was like, OK, I’m going to do this. She gave me a super simple recipe, so I followed it, and my loaf came out of the oven, and it was disgusting.”

Then, she tried again and got a better result. And again, and kept improving. “I was like, OK, I might be able to do this,” she said. She said she’s health conscious and careful with the foods her family eats. “I wanted my kids to say, ‘Oh mom, this is so good,’” she said. She began bringing the bread to different groups, and people began asking if they could buy it.

“I called around to figure out what I need to do to be able to sell it and then went down this rabbit hole,” she said with a laugh. It turned into social media and then just kind of blew up. She also teaches sourdough classes. “It’s important to me that if people want to learn, I want to be able to provide that. It can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.”

Leiferman said she prayed about selling at the farmers market. She and her daughter love going there, and they had daydreamed about it. She applied late to be a vendor and told herself if she got denied, it wasn’t meant to be.

But she was accepted. “It just feels amazing,” she said. “It feels like the right time and the right thing. I love people to know that I am a Christian, Native American-owned sourdough business.”

She plans to sell plain loaves as well as fun flavors such as jalapeno cheddar, blueberry, tomato basil and a garlic, olive and feta loaf, among others. “I also have some fun loaves for the kids – like a rainbow sprinkle loaf and a cinnamon sugar loaf,” she said. She’ll also sell bagels and cinnamon rolls. Right now, she bakes out of her home kitchen, and she anticipates spending 13 to 15 hours a day baking for the market.

She loves how baking helps her slow down and focus on the process. It also has been soothing for her since losing her son in July 2019. She said she struggled to find purpose and was frustrated that the rest of the world kept going. “Finding sourdough and creating this has been healing for me,” she said. “My focus is on one thing, and everything is so chaotic all the time.”

She hopes to leave a legacy for her children. “I feel like I honor my son while I do this,” she said of  Ryan Jr., who was 13 months old when he died. “This has been very grounding for me.”

“It’s amazing when you put all this hard work into something, and it comes out of the oven, and it’s beautiful,” Leiferman said.

Tanyel and Evan Barnes of Garretson are new to the market this year with their business, Just Fudge It.

They’ve sold their fudge and other items regionally, but they’re excited for a permanent summer spot. “Evan and I like to bake, and others were always telling us we should sell what we make, so we said, why not,” Tanyel Barnes said.

Customers will find a rotating variety of fudge. “This isn’t gritty, hurt your teeth fudge,” Barnes said. “This fudge is made from homemade marshmallows, and that makes it an exceptionally smooth fudge.”

Their fudge doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup, and most of it is gluten-free, she said. “We always try to bring new flavors to our booth, with more than 50 rotating flavors. We also have caramels, cheesecakes and marshmallows as time allows.”

She said the homemade marshmallows are a must-try and that even people who traditionally don’t like fudge are won over once they taste Just Fudge It. “They try ours and say wow, and we have a new customer,” she said.

They sell most of their items by the slice, quarter-pound and smaller portions. “Not everyone wants a full cheesecake, a pound of fudge, a loaf of bread,” she said.

Growing market

Wesselius said farmers market organizers consistently have tried to grow the market a little at a time.

“What’s nice about the market is the consistency – a good number of vendors have been there a long time, and we’ve added additional ones that help us present variety and a diversity of product,” Wesselius said. “There’s a mix of people of who have been there for 40 years and who have been there for four years. This market is over 100 years old, and that often shocks people.”

The market continues to be an attraction both for local residents and tourists.

“I’m meeting people from all over the country,” Wesselius said. “The market has become a destination. I meet people who are traveling through and who come in off the interstate on their vacations. There isn’t a stereotypical farmers market customer. There are people who come once or twice a year and those who come every Saturday. They come from all walks of life. There is no targeted audience or a certain kind of shopper who comes.”

Nathan Van Zweden, board member and co-owner of Alyssa’s Flower Farm, said the board has reviewed draft plans for revisions to Falls Park. “It looked like they listened to us and took our suggestions,” Van Zweden said. “I’m very excited about the new design coming up.”

The new design also allows for the continued growth of the market.

“We are very excited about the new layout, with the hard-surface parking,” Van Zweden said. “It looks wonderful.”

This year, the northeast parking lot will be used for vendors, he said. The market website includes a map with suggested areas for parking, a list of vendors, rules and regulations. Hours are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Van Zweden said the flower farm will be ready for Mother’s Day with tulips. “We’ll have a full Mother’s Day line coming up,” he said. “It’s always a busy day for us.”

Like Wesselius, he’s excited for the market to open. “It’s always wonderful to see the returning faces and the new people coming through,” Van Zweden said.