Come on down to South Marina Park this Saturday (Oct. 31st) from 10am-2pm to shop the very final Des Moines Farmers Market of the 2009 Season. All the city council candidates will be on hand to judge the third annual chili cookoff.

Just bring a canned or bagged non-perishable food donation for the Des Moines Food Bank, or $3 to sample the nine competing teams’ chili.

And be sure to vote for team WaterlandBlog’s chili…errr, your favorite chili, for the People’s Choice Award (we’ll be taking pics so be sure to wear a costume just for fun – maybe you’ll get on the blog!).

It’s sure not too early to think about buying the talented crafter’s wares for holiday gifts. Check out Greg Fox’s handcrafted and uniquely carved wood products. We especially like the pens and bottle stoppers. Or the basket lady’s colorful baskets. Then there’s soaps and jewelry, all handcrafted for unique gifts for your friends and family. And all-natural honey makes perfect little stocking stuffers.

And it’s not too late to bake a pie or two with fruits from one of our many fruit vendors. And how about taking a bouquet of flowers or two to your Halloween events later that night? Stock up your freezer with organic meats…the shopping opportunities are endless at the market.

Share a crisp late fall afternoon with your friends and family at the market. We sure feel like we’re going to miss our new friends that we’ve made this season. There’s the bird lady…the kids at our neighboring Kiawanis tent…the gals serving up hot and cold drinks from the latte stand, the European and Chinese eateries…and of course Rikki the market manager, Debra her able-bodied assistant and Wayne Corey, DMFM board president, who seems to always have a story or two for us.

We’ll see you all down at the Chili cookoff stand, and again next year, starting in June. Well, hey, that’s only seven months away. But until then keep on reading www.waterlandblog.com for all your local news, arts, events, politics, entertainment and more.