We welcomed a record number of new vendors this year – 24 of them, to be exact! Here’s the complete list of the newest MCFM vendors including farmers, artists, sustainable home goods, bath and body care, a bookmobile and more. Check out their vendor pages for a list of their market dates, and be sure to give them a warm welcome next time you see them.
Babycake’s Book Stack
Babycake’s Book Stack is a MOBILE bookstore that carries a highly curated inventory of books designed to include the culture and/or languages of the indigenous, immigrants, refugees, African American and many other backgrounds! It will be at the Market on the second Saturday of each month, along with MCFM kids programs including Story Time and Power of Produce.
Children of all backgrounds love to experience the charming world of reading and experience seeing themselves represented in books and literature. That is why Zsamé decided to start a bookmobile that focuses on culture and language in the Twin Cities, a hub of many diverse people.
Blackberry Bakery
Blackberry Bakery makes everything from scratch in their home base kitchen in Minneapolis. To achieve their desired taste, they use recipes passed down through family, bringing a piece of southern hospitality all the way to Minnesota.
“My name is Whitney Robinson, growing up I have always been drawn to the kitchen and the art of baking. In my youth, my family and I would congregate after church to have dinner and fellowship, but my favorite part would always be the southern bakery items that members would bring in fresh out of the oven. Back in 2020, I ponder about this childhood dream that I have always had and decided to make it a reality, to share my gift of baking with the world. In 2021 I started working on this vision I’ve always had, baking from scratch with lots of love. Blackberry Bakery wants to keep our childhood memories alive through all of your favorite baked goods.”
Blue Hummingbird Woman
Blue Hummingbird Woman is a “Heart Medicine” Indigenous Gift Shop. Their goal is to highlight and invest in Indigenous artists & creators. They focus on hand-crafted, wild harvested, plant-based herbal remedies, salves, balms, body butters, oils, soaps, tea, maple, honey, and more. They also honor the art of various indigenous artists from all over Turtle Island. Showcasing beautiful art such as; beadwork, jewelry, canvas prints, wood work, & unique clothing designs. The gift shop’s mission is to uplift the Indigenous community and all of their gifts, and also gift people who visit the shop with handmade, heartfelt creations!
Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ (Tara) is Lower Sioux Dakota and White Earth Ojibwe. She grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ is the mother of two sons. She is the author of Takoza: Walks With the Blue Moon Girl, Animals of Khéya Wíta, Animals of Nimaamaa-Aki, and Our Love Language. Tara is inspired by the loving hearts of her sons: she is a creator, plant medicine enthusiast, and has always loved to write. She believes in the healing power of storytelling. Tara was raised by her grandmother and learned how to cultivate a sacred relationship with our plant relatives at a young age. As a child, and teenager she would write poetry that spoke of her love for Maká Uŋčí (Mother Earth). Her poem “Heart Warriors” was the first Dakota poem to be stamped into the sidewalks of Saint Paul. Tara continues to honor the traditional medicine teachings of her grandmothers and creates plant based balms, creams, soaps and more. It is important to Tara that she teaches everyone the importance of protecting our earth and water. Mother Earth is one of the first spirits gifted to all of us, and she is our oldest grandmother!
Clover Bee Farm
Clover Bee Farm is the creation of Andrew and Margaret Hanson-Pierre. In 2015 the farm started out on rented land with humble beginnings. In 2018 they moved to their permanent farm just north of Taylors Falls. They continue to tend to the land and experience how it humbles them to this day. The farm is run primarily by Andrew and Margo with the help of a few volunteers as they grow over 120 different varieties of vegetables on 2.5 acres.
As time has gone by they have moved their farm to low-till practices focusing on soil health and what makes sense for them. They do not own a tractor or a tiller. Their hope is to leave the land they occupy better than they found it by implementing low-till and conservation practices. In addition to that, they would like to inspire others to think of farming from a different perspective and wonder how things could be done differently. Those are two things, among many, that drive the farm forward.
The name of the farm does not relate to honey, but without pollinators many vegetables would not exist. The poem “To Make A Prairie”, by Emily Dickinson inspired the farm name.
For They Skincare & Wellness
For They Skincare & Wellness is dedicated to creating premium products that deliver healthy beauty, while staying true to their collective values:
- All Natural Ingredients
- Formulated for All Humans
- Using Sustainable Practices & Packaging
- Delivered at Affordable Prices
For They was started by four sisters, from a family of nine siblings, sharing a set of common values, and striving for wellness, equity, and environmental sustainability. For They is the culmination and convergence of their life experiences and unique vision of wellness. Frustration at the unpronounceable list of chemical ingredients in ‘natural and honest’ skincare products, and concern over the river of plastic waste pouring into our oceans, led them to create their own line of products with pure, natural ingredients and sustainable, reusable packaging.
Forest Gold Botanicals
The mission of Forest Gold Botanicals is to supply high quality mushroom products to compliment your health regimen, employing responsibly grown and harvested mushrooms and using local, organic ingredients when possible. The tinctures are produced in small batches following a best practice procedure ensuring purity and highest quality.
Products include:
- Cordyceps Dual Extraction Tincture: Energy, Stamina, Immune System Booster
- Lion’s Mane Dual Extraction Tincture: Support Memory, Focus and Nerve Health
- Reishi Dual Extraction Tincture: Balance Immune System, Reduce Inflammation, Calm Stress Levels
- Turkey Tail Dual Extraction Tincture: Fight Infection and Stimulate Immune System
- Maitake Dual Extraction Tincture: Support Heart Health, Increase Natural Killer T-Cells, Maintain Healthy Glycemic Balance
- Chaga Dual Extraction Tincture: Support Skin and Endocrine System, Reduce Blood Sugar
Get Bentz Farm
Get Bentz Farm and Fiber Mill located outside of lovely Northfield, MN raises a variety of sheep breeds for wool and meat, and produces locally sourced yarn and fiber products in their cottage mill. Theresa Bentz works with local shepherds to source all the wool, angora, mohair, and alpaca to make her yarns and roving. The yarns and roving created in the mill are one of a kind, created in small batches, and using natural dyes or recycled materials when available.
The farm also has a large natural dye garden which supplies most of the dyestuff Theresa uses in her naturally dyed yarns and roving, and in kits that people can take home to dye themselves!
Along with yarn and roving, Get Bentz Farm offers hand-woven scarves and rugs created by Jake Bentz, felted sheets of wool, and naturally tanned sheepskins. The mill also partners with local designers who bring the lovely yarn to life, which also creates community and supports the craft of everyone involved.
Heirloomista
Heirloomista is a woman-owned and operated farm that uses Biodynamic practices and saves a whole lot of seed. Kelsey Love is the driving force behind it all, with a mission to heal the earth through agriculture and inspire people to engage with this planet in a meaningful way. Kelsey’s farm is off-grid, as sustainability is behind much of how she approaches life on and off the farm. She grows fresh produce, herbs and pastured chicken in the summer months and also makes value-added products from the farm that are available year round.
“Heirlooms aren’t just tomatoes. Any fruit or vegetable can be an heirloom. The difference between and heirloom and a hybrid seed is the fact that it has been saved year after year and grows “true to type” each time. Heirloom seeds have been passed down through the generations and come with stories. I love collecting new seeds and trying them out. Besides the bright colored vegetables and diverse flavors that delight your senses, there are many great qualities heirlooms have to offer.”
Krishna’s Delight
At Krishna’s Delight, the motto is “Stealing your heart with divine delights.” The 3 partners, Shashikant Bhojraj (PKD), Anurupa Maheshwari (Anasuya) and Susan Jensen (Gopika) have been lifelong friends/associates. Over the years they have worked together on different food projects, having embraced a Vedic food lifestyle for over 20 years/ lifelong. They are therefore well acquainted with the diversity, benefits and sustainability offered in both India’s cuisine and in other world cuisines. They started Krishna’s Delight as a humble side effort. They are now at multiple farmers markets and at numerous events in the Twin Cities.
“We believe the success we have is more to do with our spiritual practices than culinary prowess. We cook with a certain gratefulness towards the divine energy, God or whoever, that has given us all these gifts. There are so many people who contribute in order for the food to come to our table, from the farmer to the umpteen people involved. We cannot go around thanking everyone, unfortunately, but we can at least thank the source of it all, and through that, hope that the thankfulness will go to everybody. We three firmly believe that it’s that thankfulness that is what people are tasting as different. We believe that it is that thankfulness that actually reaches people and satisfies them at a very different level.”
Milkweed Books
Milkweed Books is owned and operated by Milkweed Editions, an independent literary press. Initially opening in 2017, the bookstore’s mission is “to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.” They prioritize originality, marginalized voices, and books exploring our relationship to place and the more-than-human world.
“At MCFM, we will be selling a selection of Milkweed Editions titles that we believe best exemplify the publisher and how we can meaningfully provide a resource for the neighborhood growing around us. We are a site of connection, community, and exploration.”
Minneapolis Mehndi & Henna
Minneapolis Mehndi & Henna is a mobile service happy to provide henna art and beauty services for individuals, groups, events, schools, festivals, birthdays and more.
Of Southeast Asian ancestry, Amy (Lead Henna Artist) is a proud first generation American. Her parents reached the Midwest as refugees of The Secret War eventually settling in North Minneapolis. As a lifelong resident of the Northside, Amy founded Minneapolis Mehndi & Henna as an avenue to share her culture with her community and support the success of Northside youth.
Morning Glory Farm and Gardens
Morning Glory Farm and Gardens brought their amazing ramps and ramp salt to the Mill City Farmers Market for the first time this May. One of the highlights of the spring season on their farm is the bountiful harvest of ramps, delightfully delicious wild onions (Allium tricoccum), a native species found in the woodlands of North America. The woods come alive with a sea of ramps for a few weeks every May.
To share the joy of ramps year-round Faye created Ramp Salt, a flavorful seasoning made with dried ramp leaves and sea salt. Once you taste it you will enjoy it as much as we do! The ramp leaves used in the salt are carefully harvested from the top third of the plant, ensuring that the plant’s growth is not impacted.
Morning Glory Farm and Gardens is a diversified farm in western Wisconsin. Mark Plunkett and Faye Jones have been proud stewards of the land for over 35 years, over time producing garlic, cut flowers, vegetables and grass fed beef cattle. Faye and Mark are semi-retired from farming but their passion for sustainable agriculture still burns bright. Last year they made the decision to sell their beloved Highlander cattle, and converted a portion of the back pasture woods into camp sites.
Nick Earl Pottery
Nick Earl Pottery is handmade functional pottery designed to enrich life and liven the spirit. Nick Earl is a potter who lives in Stillwater, MN. He received his BA in Art from the University of Vermont, Burlington in 2011, and apprenticed with potter Dick Cooter in Two Harbors, MN from 2012-2014. Nick currently maintains his studio at the Abnet Farm 8 miles north of Stillwater. His wheel-thrown pots are influenced by medieval Korean, Japanese, and English pottery, as well as by nature, food, and imperfection.
“I make pots and am continually fascinated by the softness and reception of the clay from which they are made. When successful, these qualities translate into the finished pieces, objects that will hopefully enrich the regular ceremonies of life. I have a strong interest in art history and I try to exhibit the strength and beauty I see in old pots in my own work. Cooking is also of great interest to me and my work being mostly functional has a lot to do with the storage, preparation, and presentation of food.”
Obsidian Pause Wearable Paper Art
Obsidian Pause Wearable Paper Art is a Minneapolis, MN home-based jewelry, visual art, and workshop business registered in the State of Minnesota. This business provides people with hand-crafted one-of-a-kind wearable paper collage earrings along with mixed media visual art and workshops for small groups that are passionate about mindfulness art. The Artist/MSW and facilitator for the workshops is Azania Tripp (she/her). She is a self-taught artist that has worked with children, youth, and adults in social services for over 10 years. She uses her lived experience and her intersectionalities to create whimsical art.
Primitiva Collective
Primitiva Collective is an intentional community of local women artisans coming together to create something bigger than themselves. Founded by Laura Merino-Franco. Her commitment for her community and passion for elevating other women business owners led her to found Primitiva Collective in May 2022. Together, Laura and the members of the collective have built a beautiful space thoughtfully crafted to evoke inspiration, beauty, peace and sisterhood. Visit their boutique for unique handmade goods and enjoy their monthly classes and workshops.
Spoon and Theory Handmade
Spoon and Theory Handmade is a BIPOC Owned – Minneapolis creative jewelry and aromatherapy shop. They specialize in handcrafted jewelry made from natural and sustainable materials. Their products are made with love and care, and they take great pride in producing goods that are fun, beautiful and meaningful.
They create a variety of jewelry from minimalist diffuser earrings, to mix media statement pieces with a focus on sustainability and art therapy. In addition, they utilize around 20% of leather, and wood remnants from other local studios.
Start a Flame
Start a Flame was started by Rachel in her home town of San Diego, California. It all started when she made some customized rosaries as gifts for friends, and pretty soon she was making customized jewelry as well. She makes and sells Rosaries, necklaces, earrings, keychains, velvet yarn pillows, and customized orders.
“Working with polished stone & making quality jewelry at an affordable price has been my goal. You don’t have to spend hundreds to wear something special.”
Swenwares Ceramics and Sound
Swenwares Ceramics and Sound offers handmade and often hand-painted pots, objects and ideas. Swenson’s work is historically driven in form and surface. He has spent the last couple of years combining motifs from different cultures that have similarities in feeling or shape or theme. Those motifs and patterns are then “patch worked” together to make ceramic work that pays homage to the history while collaging them in a contemporary fashion.
“My work is about nostalgia and play. These pieces are meant to evoke feelings of times past, and to revere the motifs and patterns from historical decorative arts. They offer a contemporary perspective of those traditions while re-contextualizing their content. These objects are meant to embellish the home and daily practices, as well as to provide their services and entertainment.”
Tare Market
Tare Market strives to make sustainable living convenient and accessible to all people, so as a community we can decrease our environmental impact. In order to simplify the process for you, they make it their duty to vet the products they carry, so you can reduce your carbon footprint, lead a more sustainable lifestyle, and live more in tune with the natural environment.
When she discovered zero waste after moving to Minnesota in 2017, Amber Hauledahl was empowered to live a waste-free lifestyle and to help others do the same. After two years of educating herself on zero waste, facilitating presentations around the Twin Cities, tabling at events and fairs, and developing the business concept for Tare Market (the first zero waste store in Minnesota!) she opened Tare Market. Since its inception, it has grown to include over 700 products, support many women and BIPOC makers, and help divert over 34,000 plastic bags from the landfill.
Tugi Enterprises
Tugi Enterprises offers handmade olive wood cutting and charcuterie boards, spoons and spatulas, mortar and pestles, honey containers and dippers, salad bowls, serving dishes, rolling pins, ladles and more.
“Our mission is to bring the art of handcrafting to everyone’s home with our beautiful handmade housewares. Nonporous, antibacterial, extremely durable by nature and coated in a protective layer of olive oil, our natural Olive Wood products are environmentally friendly, food safe and sustainable.”
Tuntum BlackHill Farm
TunTum BlackHill Farm is a Black-owned sustainable and biodynamic farm. For owner James Raymond, the goal is to put more into the soil than they take out and make sure animals have good happy, and healthy lives. TunTum BlackHill does not use pesticides or artificial fertilizers, and all animals are heritage breeds– unlike commercial breeds, these animals will reflect either similar or identical to how animals would be in the wild. These take anywhere from twice as long to five times as long to reach maturity compared to commercial counterparts. Animals live on pasture for the majority of their lives. At the Market you’ll find chicken, beef, eggs and herbs alongside his homemade focaccia bread.
WAAM Industries
WAAM Industries is a product design and manufacturing company owned by Hanna & Andrew Vomhof. WAAM designs products inspired by vintage finds & utilitarian objects. All goods are designed with intention and are built to last the test of time.
We Are Always Moving (WAAM Industries) has always been a company on the move. The company started with humble roots in a Bushwick studio, landed in Northern Minnesota, bounced to-and-from Minneapolis and Brooklyn, and has now settled in rural Minnesota.
All products are designed and made by their small team in Minnesota.
Wild Edge Woodworking
Wild Edge Woodworking is a woman-owned business making live edge and artistic tables, epoxy infused charcuteries, cutting boards and more.
“Welcome to Wild Edge Woodworking! I’m Terry Daugherty. I am the artist, builder, and owner of Wild Edge Woodworking. My passion is breathing new life into the flowing grains and craggy knots of fallen trees. I design all my work with natural elements in mind to give you the feeling of serene beauty and grounded energy. Whether my work features only the natural state of the wood or I enhance the slabs with inlays of river stones, flowers, or slices of geodes, I hope you will find beauty in each and every piece.”
Yummytizers
Yummytizers offers a variety of flavored hummus dips, Mediterranean salads, fruit flavored kefir yogurts, and other Mediterranean food products. Hamdi Sayah was born and raised in Tunisia, North Africa, and emigrated to the UK and then later to the US. He and his family recently moved from California to Minnesota.
Interested in being a vendor at MCFM next season? Click here for application information.
Thank you Mill City Times for the beautiful photography and market coverage!