Individuals converse with vendors about items and the community at the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair on July 3 at Depot Park.

 

RIO LINDA, CA (MPG) – Local produce, freeze dried goods, tie-dye apparel and other hand made goods were some of the items available at the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair from 5 p.m. to dusk July 3 at Depot Park.

Fair participants browsed and shopped at more than 10 vendors’ spaces, including Sacramento Snoshack, which had a trailer serving flavored snow cones. Home-baked goods, jams and jellies were available to sample and purchase. Another vendor featured an assortment of specialty crystals, gems and rocks, featuring shapes such as skulls, tiki themes, elephants, frogs and turtles.

Eleven-year-old Rio Linda resident Virginia Broyles was selling multiple items she crocheted by hand, including hats, bracelets, key chains and bags, among other apparel and accessories.

Virginia Broyles, right, sits with her family by her booth, selling handmade crocheted apparel and accessories she produced over the past year at the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair on July 3 at Depot Park.

“All of this stuff was made in about a year, so I’ve been crocheting for six to five years because my aunt taught me,” Virginia said. “She showed me the basics. I kept doing that for years and then I started making tiny, tiny bags and then started selling those for a dollar a piece for about one year.”

Virginia said she went from making tiny bags to learning how to make them larger with thicker carrying straps and had a few of them for sale at the fair. Virginia said her mother asked her to make small baby hats and she looked to some of her previously unfinished designs, resulting in a plethora of hats she also had for sale.

Virginia had more than 20 handmade items for sale on July 3 and said she has sold about $60 worth of crocheted items between the fair and school. Virginia said she is starting to make little flowers, drink coasters and “little whales.”

David Oropeza, a 67-year-old Antelope resident, said that Virginia made him an over-the-shoulder pouch. Oropeza said he has also bought individually-beaded Indian jewelry that is “one of a kind” at the fair.

Locally grown produce is sold to a customer attending the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair on July 3 at Depot Park.

“Everybody who comes here is friendly, helpful, reasonable and Charlea (Moore), who puts on this and is one of the caretakers of this place, is a wonderful person,” Oropeza said. “Rio Linda is just a nice place to come and we’re having beautiful weather for all of this.”

Nicole Muzyka and her mother, Kim Miller had a booth selling apparel for their brand Pokey Toes Apparel. Muzyka said that she and her mother hand-make all the items, which include dog bandanas, dog accessories, soaps, lotions, key chains, embroideries and an array of other items.

Muzyka said that they have been selling custom handmade items for the past few years from their online Etsy shop and locally through venues such as the fair. Items from their Etsy website include potholders, hanging towels and other kitchen accessories.

Handmade items from Caesar’s Scissors, owned by Alfred Caesar, 67, are for sale at the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair on July 3 at Depot Park.

Meghan Carlsen, owner and founder of Beastly Freeze Dried Foods, 43, said she brought freeze dried fruits, vegetables, herbs, candy and baked goods, trying to bring freeze-dried awareness to the community.

“We’ve got onions that you can cook with on a daily basis, garlic, apples that you can just snack on,” Carlsen said. “There’s people around here that just pick them up for their horses and feed them to their horses because the freeze-drying process really locks in 99 percent of the nutrients and it removes 99 percent of the water, so you’ve got a shelf stable, just full of flavor and nutrient packed bite.”

Carlsen said she has been in the business of freeze drying for about a year and a half. Carlsen said that her products can be found at the San Juan Club, the Cedar Room or Scotty’s Hideaway, as well as their e-commerce site at beastlyfreezedried.com. Carlsen said individuals looking to preserve their harvest should reach out to her.

A project that Carlsen said she is working on is creating a produce slurry for an aggrotech company to ensure its encapsulation process works properly because the aggrotech company’s product preserves harvested fruit.

Attendees of the Rio Linda Farmer’s Market and Peddler’s Fair browse the different vendors, with more than 10 different vendors in attendance at Depot Park on July 3.

Sixty-six-year-old Alfred Caesar, the owner and operator of Caesar’s Scissors, had handmade, custom licensed merchandise, ranging from Disney products to major league sports. Some of his products included cooking aprons, pillows and kitchen towels.

Caesar said he has been selling his merchandise at the fair for the past three years.

“I just decided to start doing something to keep me busy,” Caesar said. “My wife and I used to do this together and after she passed away, I kept doing it and it gives me something to do with my time.”

Caesar said he participates in numerous events around Rio Linda, including the farmer’s market and the Rio Linda Elverta Country Fair. He said it gives him an opportunity to sit in the park, talk to people, have fun and walk away with a little bit of money.

Some vendors at the farmer’s market accepted contactless payment, such as Venmo and Apple Pay. Depot Park is located at 6730 Front St. in Rio Linda and the fair takes place from 5 p.m. to dusk every Thursday.

According to a flier for the farmer’s market and peddler’s fair, food trucks and musicians are wanted to cater and perform at the event. A 10-foot-by-10-foot space at the event is free and more information can be obtained from the event’s organizer, Charlea Moore, whose contact information is 916-275-3275 by phone and [email protected] by email.