DES MOINES, Iowa — The Des Moines Downtown Farmer’s Market is celebrating its 50 year anniversary.

The market extended its hours from 7 a.m. – Noon, to 7 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. on July 26 to celebrate the occasion. When the market opened in 1976, it had 15 vendors and roughly 200 shoppers. Now, over 300 vendors line the streets of the Court District and draw in 30,000 visitors each Saturday from May to October.

One of the original 15 vendors was Thill’s Produce. They have attended every year of the market since it opened and have expanded with the market. Brenda Waddle, co-owner of Thrill’s produce, says that their booth has grown with the market

“We’ve really expanded. We started out, my parents did green beans and sweet corn is how they started 50 years ago. It was all produce then,” Waddle said. “And then we expanded to baked goods and then we added some craft things we do T-shirts, screen printing. So we just we’ve kind of grown with that, with the market.”

Another vendor at the farmers’ market is Edara Wellness owned by Jelani and Yinka Cole. They sell natural herbal teas and mushroom coffee. Yinka is an Olympian and competed for team Nigeria in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her love for herbal teas and natural wellness started when her mom would give her similar products when she was a child. Yinka says that her business started when she was giving out her products for free.

“So before I started selling the tea’s, I’d make it and just give it to people for free,” Yinka said. “And people started texting me and giving me a good, positive feedback. And I’m like, ‘Oh, I think I should start this business.’ So I turned that into a business and that’s how it started.”

Edara Wellness has been operating for two years and already has over 10,000 customers worldwide. Her husband Jelani said that he lost 25 pounds in three weeks from drinking their mushroom coffee, and stopped snoring after Yinka started giving him their hibiscus herbal tea. A link to their website can be found by clicking here.

The Downtown Farmers’ Market will be open every Saturday through Oct. 25 from 7 a.m.-Noon in the Court District.