Whether rain or shine, weather does not deter Coppell residents from fulfilling their Saturday morning farmers market tradition. Each weekend, the market attracts over 1700 customers from Coppell and nearby cities with almost 45 vendors to choose from.

“The people were friendly and the samples are really nice and good to try. It is especially nice that it is not crowded and the weather's nice,” farmers market attendee Pallavi Nanu said. “They have food fit for various types of people, you could be vegetarian or vegan and be fine.”

Popsicles, pies, tamales, empanadas, spices, herbs, produce, pastas, soaps and more, were available for purchase.

Just over a year ago, a pavillion was specifically constructed for the farmers market, allowing vendors to sell goods outside in tents and also in a covered space.

Unlike the Dallas Farmers Market that charges vendors $50 for a booth, having a space in Coppell is much more reasonable.

Patty Alford has been a fresh produce vendor for four years at the Coppell market and is part of her family-owned farm Alford Farms that is located in Emory, TX.

“The people who run the market are very friendly, helpful, efficient, the price they charge to have booth here is very reasonable,” Alford said. “It’s a very diverse group of people who come here it’s good for vegetable vendors because what one group of people do not enjoy another group of people do.”

Dani Perasell works at Abundantly Aromatic, a small-scale business near Mesquite that has been coming to the Coppell Farmers Market for eight years. The company specializes in soy candles, handmade soaps, salt and sugar scrubs and bath bombs.

Abundantly Aromatic uses a cold process that starts with the fats in shea butter or olive oil that are stirred into lye butter, creating glycerine. Next, essential oils and fragrances are added to the mixture that is poured into a mold that is later cut into individual bars of soap.

“The community that runs it really appreciates the vendors, there’s vendor appreciation day, the rent isn’t crazy,” Perasell said. “The Coppell Farmers Market made a conscious effort to be small, they only let in a certain number of people, it’s very heavily screened and they physically go to the farms to check it out to make sure everything is on the up and up.”

In the last three years, Old Town Coppell has been developed to include a variety of restaurants, coffeehouses, small businesses, homes and the farmers market at its heart.

Coppell Farmers Market Manager Amanda Austin believes that the emphasis on the community gardens, the farmers market and biodiversity education center are factors that make Coppell special.

“There are different communities going on, there’s the customers who use this place as a meeting space to get together with each other but the customers have also built relationships with the vendors,” Austin said.