Riverfront Market offers locally prepared foods and items

The Cape Girardeau Riverfront Market is the only farmers market located downtown, and it offers everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to live entertainment.

At the market, everything is locally grown, produced or prepared by the vendors.

"I love the ambiance here," said Grant Gillard, a local honey farmer. "People are relaxing. You see people with their dogs. It's a place to meet, it's very social and people just come to have a good time. It's just a very friendly atmosphere here."

A man at the Laughing Stalk Farmstead tent sells produce at the Riverfront Market. Photo by Brittany Thomsen

Gillard offered honey, pollen and honeycomb at the market and all are varieties of different crops.

"As my bees pollinate different crops, it makes a different tasting honey," Gillard said. "The watermelon blossom honey is different than the strawberry blossom honey."

Southeast student Jacob Seyer plays a song at the Cape Girardeau Riverfront Market. Photo by Brittany Thomsen

The traditional honey Gillard offered is made from multiple fields.

"It's such a broad spectrum of pollen, so when people need a remedy for their allergies, that's what I offer them," Gillard said.

Gillard explained that when people eat the honey and ingest the pollen, their bodies become desensitized. When they breathe in whatever is in the air, their sinuses won't react.

The market also offered varieties of baked goods, such as doughnuts made by Mennonites and fresh baked breads.

"We do some organic gardening, but mostly we have a wood-fired brick oven and we bake organic whole wheat sourdoughs," said Sharla Green, owner of Green's Gardens. "We do everything from pretzels to wheat breads to flat breads to loaf breads."

The market also hosted Jacob Seyer, a local musician, to entertain shoppers while they ate, drank and relaxed.

"I love that there is live music in the background," Christy Smith said. "When I come to the market it's usually just to see my friends and have a good time. Of course I come home with lots of ingredients for dinner, but mostly it's just to have a good time."

Watkins Wildlife Rehab, of Sedgewickville, Mo., also was at the market and brought a wild coyote that had been orphaned.

Visitors were welcome to pet and play with the coyote while they learned about the rehab center and the local wild animals.

Watkins Wildlife Rehab is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned Missouri mammals, reptiles and migratory wildfowl.

Meats, cheeses, eggs, nuts, lotions, soaps and arts and crafts also are available every week at the market.

The Cape Riverfront Market takes place every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon at 35 South Spanish St.

The second season began on May 4 and will last through Oct. 26.