As the weather drops, we say goodbye to the days of running around outside all day in tank tops and sipping on ice-cold lemonade, and hello to the days of doing activities bundled up in multiple layers whilst sipping on some hot coffee.  

One of these activities to do is visiting the Elgin Farmers Market centered right in the heart of downtown Elgin.  

When first arriving at the Spring Street location, you’ll notice that the farmers market was able to block off a part of a small part of the road in downtown Elgin.  

The first thing you’ll see at the Elgin Farmers Market (other than the windy Illinois weather) is the smiles and genuine auras coming from all the vendors there. The only people who would stay in windy weather willingly are people who really care about their products and want others to know about their products as well.  

The first vendor that caught my eye was a man named Frank Anderson who ran a tent promoting his business called Linner Bakery.  

Linner Bakery is a business based in Bolingbrook, Illinois that specializes in making high-quality gluten-free baked goods from pizzas all the way to muffins.  

Whilst taking photos of his products. I couldn’t help but indulge in one of his baked goods as that’s how delectable they looked.  

And, to match the fall theme, I decided to purchase a pumpkin spice muffin for five dollars.  

The muffin itself was incredible. Hands down the best pastry I’ve ever had, it had the perfect amount of moisture in it and it had a rich pumpkin spice flavor that wasn’t overpowering at all like other seasonal pastries might be.  

It only cost five dollars but after trying it, I would’ve paid 20$ for it because of how delightful it was.  

Right next to Linner Bakery was a business called Simply Stoneware.  

Simply Stoneware is known for making unique, handcrafted ceramics such as graters, utensil holders, and even water pitchers.  

My attention was drawn towards the ceramic graters as there was a variety of graters with different, beautiful colors to them. I’ve never used a grater myself but to me, Simply Stoneware’s ceramic graters seem like the perfect gift to give anyone into cooking. And since Christmas is slowly but surely creeping up on us, I recommend buying some now rather than later.  

A couple steps away from the Simply Stoneware set-up, I met Anika Jones and her business Head To Toe Blessing. On Jones’s website (headtotoeblessing.com) she says that each of her products is “made with love and covered with prayer.”   

Head To Toe Blessing has all types of self-care oils, creams, soaps, etc, which are all scented with lovely smelling essential oils which immediately attracted me.

Head to Toe Blessing’s not only smells nice but also has amazing qualities to offer. Oils that help nurture hair growth and body creams that help sore muscles relax after a grueling workout are two of the many lovely products Jones’s had that stood out to me.  

As the wind was getting worse and worse, I was looking for something to warm me up. Thankfully, Eliot Coleman had an answer for me.  

Eliot Coleman and his wife Jen are the duo that founded Gigawatt Coffee Roasters. Gigawatt specializes in making clean tasting and affordable coffee.  

Whilst I was taking pictures of his stand and since it was close to the farmers market closing time, Coleman offered some of his unsold product as a free sample.  

Now, I honestly hate the taste of coffee and I’m not a fan of anything coffee-related at all, so I was a bit hesitant to try it. But nothing beats free, so I took the sample, and I was shocked at how smooth and refreshing it was.  

Before packing everything up, Coleman noticed how much I enjoyed the sample and then did something that I didn’t expect to happen at all.   

Coleman gave me a canned version of the coffee I had just drank. Free of charge. And honestly, the coffee tastes just as good in a can and cold.  

Before I left the Elgin Farmers Market to go look over the pictures I took, I heard a familiar sound in my ear.  

The song “Still Not a Player” by the late Big Pun and Joe was playing and the vocals sounded good, a little too good to be someone playing a speaker. As I got closer to the sound, I found out that it was a live acoustic performance.  

 The amazing live vocals were courtesy of local performer Frank Liston.   

After listening to Liston perform one more song after his Still Not a Player rendition. The clock struck 7 and just like that, the event ended.  

Final Thoughts

The atmosphere of the Elgin Farmers Market was beautiful. From the lovely aromas such as Jones’s head to toe blessing, the taste of amazing food such as Anderson’s Linner Bakery, or just the kind and welcoming people such as Eliot Coleman. I would highly recommend people to visit the Elgin Farmers Market as the aesthetic and overall presentation of the event was amazing and so wholesome, and I for one will 100% be going to the next farmers’ market.  

For more information on the business listed, visit the following websites:  

Linner Bakery: www.linnerbakery.com   

Simply Stoneware: www.simplystoneware.com  

Head To Toe Blessing: www.headtotoeblessing.com  

Gigawatt Coffee Roasters: www.gigawattcoffeeroasters.com  

Frank Liston: https://youtube.com/channel/UCkKx8RFarbUCa3viM94y91A?si=CKXyZDYUmae5YKJ5