The first Kalona farmers market of the season was held on Saturday, June 5 in downtown Kalona. Despite the 90-degree weather and hot sun, dozens of individuals, couples and families strolled the sidewalks in search of handmade and local products, ranging from dried beans to frozen beef to earrings to soaps.

Marc and Brandi Janssen played fiddle and guitar in the background, their old-time, bluegrass, country sound providing a backdrop to the chatter between vendors and customers.

Cheryl Allen, selling handmade soaps with her husband Ethan, is new to the Kalona farmers market; she had participated in the Muscatine market a few years ago with different products, but said she found the Kalona market a more desirable place to sell her wares. She makes the cold process soap using fragrance oils, so they retain their scent. She had 46 different scents displayed on Saturday.

“I chose this market because I like the variety and it’s well-managed,” Allen said. “[The organizers] try to spread people out and try to make sure there isn’t a lot of redundancy. They make an effort to bring in musicians and other people, so they have a lot of diversity to offer.”

Nicole Castillo brought her business, Moss & Mud Apothecary, to the Kalona market after a friend suggested it. She’d previously done some small private events and decided it was time to branch out.

Castillo sells bath salts, herbal teas, natural deodorant, tinctures and lip salves. A tincture, she explained is an alcohol-based product made by soaking herbs in the alcohol for eight weeks.

“It pulls all of the really good properties out of the herb and into the alcohol,” Castillo said. “It’s a way to get all those beneficial properties out of the herb and into something that’s concentrated, that you need very little of but that is really good for the body.”

The tinctures are taken orally, either dropped under the tongue or even mixed with a small amount of juice.

Castillo, from Richmond, said she has mostly worked from home, using social media and word of mouth to grow her business. But after just a few hours at the Kalona market, she had sold out of several products.

Old favorite vendors returned to the Kalona farmers market, too, including the Miller Family Homestead from Riverside. Set up right on the corner of Fifth St. and C Ave., across the street from the post office, they sell a variety of frozen beef products as well as fresh-grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.

“The Kalona market was open for a couple of months last fall and we did really well then, so we’re signed up for the whole summer this year,” said owner Joy Miller. “We love interacting with the local customers and we love that the market is bringing people from all over. Today, we’ve talked to people from Mount Pleasant, Tiffin, Cedar Rapids and Chicago.”

The Miller Homestead started direct marketing their beef four years ago, selling frozen beef at the Washington farmers market. Since then, they’ve started grilling their burgers, giving people a sample of the “farm fresh taste” that comes from their beef.

Miller had her three sons, aged six, four and two, with her at the market and said her family is a big reason her business started direct marketing its beef.

“Having our family here is a huge reason that we’re doing what we’re doing with direct marketing the beef at all, versus me having a full-time job away from home. It’s been a way I can work from home and work with my family, too.”

In addition to her sons, Miller’s husband, mother-in-law and the brother of her sister-in-law were all helping at the homestead stand, grilling hot dogs and hamburgers and filling orders of frozen beef.

Miller said there’s nothing quite like a market day — and that the start to the 2021 Kalona farmers market bodes well for the rest of the season.

“I grew up doing the farmers market in downtown Des Moines. My family baked and we were doing that since the time I was six years old,” Miller said. “So, for me, this has been a re-entry into the world of farmers markets. It’s what I grew up doing and it’s fun to be able to bring my kids along, too.”