by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A new farmers’ market will open Saturday, May 14, in downtown Sauk Rapids under two huge tents in the parking lot behind Refresh Nutrition.
Market hours on that day and every subsequent Saturday until Oct. 1 will be from 8 a.m.-noon.
“Brinkman’s Farmers’ Market” is the brainchild of Jessi Brinkman, owner of Sweet Nature Gluten-Free Baked Goods.
Previously, there had been a farmers’ market on the east end of Sauk Rapids along 10th Avenue NE, but it was off the beaten track and so many people didn’t know about it.
The new site is right in the thick of it, in the parking lot on Second Avenue next to Manea’s Meats and Refresh Nutrition.
“We wanted a busier, more visible place,” Brinkman told the Sauk Rapids-Rice Newsleader.
She said the markets will have the usual standard fare, plus specialties like goat cheese and caramel corn. In addition, Brinkman plans to make the market a kind of happy festival of arts and crafts with a different artist each Saturday demonstrating an art form such as painting or pottery, along with live musical acts and perhaps authors signing their books. There will also be rotating vendors, such as Kalahari Foods, which offers African cuisine.
Farmers’ markets, Brinkman said, should showcase a wide variety of local talents of the people who live in the Sauk Rapids and greater St. Cloud area.
“One example of that is this wonderful woman who makes adorable outfits for dogs,” Brinkman said. “We want vendors, as well as musicians and artists, to share their passion.”
Born in Morris, Brinkman has a degree in sales and management from St. Cloud Technical College. For 10 years, she operated a non-profit to help teens make healthy choices. A few years ago, she became interested in baking gluten-free foods and then opened Sweet Nature Gluten-Free Baked Goods in Sauk Rapids in April 2015.
“It’s such a good fit for me, meeting people who want to be health-conscious,” she said. “I also love the way vendors promote one another unselfishly. It’s so much fun talking to vendors and customers, and I learn so much from them.”
She and her husband, John Brinkman, have three children.
“I always loved the way farmers’ markets have organic foods available,” she said. “I love to deal directly with local growers and at the same time help the community.”
Jessi Brinkman shows off a plate of her gluten-free cookies, which will be for sale at the upcoming new farmers’ market in Sauk Rapids, which was organized by Brinkman in its downtown location. It will take place starting at 10 a.m. Friday, May 14.
This is a photo of the dazzling rose cake, gluten-free, baked by Jessi Brinkman, organizer of the new farmers’ market in Sauk Rapids, which will debut starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14 downtown.
