What's new at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market

Driving the news: Here are two things we're watching this year.

New vendors

53 new vendors will pop up throughout the season, including familiar names like Wilson's Orchard, Kathmandu, Main Street Cafe & Bakery, Crème, The Eggroll Ladies, Coaches Kolaches and Home Sweet Cone.

Zoom in: For Home Sweet Cone, a popular ice cream shop in Waukee, this year's market is a perfect place to introduce its newest purchase — a 1959 Ford Grumman step van-turned-ice cream truck, says owner Colleen Strohmaier.

• Meanwhile, Wilson's Orchard & Farm, which recently opened in Cumming, will sell its flowers, produce, baked goods, drinks and apparel, says general manager Jacob Goering.

Expanded market

The biggest change visitors will notice is the market's expansion to Water Street, just north of Court Avenue and south of the entrance to the Polk County parking lot, says Elizabeth Weyers, the market's manager.

• The expansion opens up 12 new vendor spaces and allows extra room for pop-up events like yoga, Weyers says.
• Saturday's launch will offer a teaser to the expansion, which will start permanently June 8 and last through the season's end in October.