The annual El Pueblo Farmer’s Market got underway Friday at El Pueblo History Museum, and from now through September, the popular downtown attraction features local vendors presenting everything from Pueblo chiles and handmade art to Palisade peaches and natural medicines.

For those planning on shopping or browsing the marketplace, which tends to draw as many as 12,000 people over its four-month run, here are five things to know before attending:

• Everything is local. All of the market’s artwork, homemade crafts, soaps, medicines, and especially the produce is made right here in the Centennial State, oftentimes here in Pueblo County. The local produce sold at the market is seasonal, so its current offerings are mostly early season and storage crops, with produce such as pumpkins, peaches, chiles and more becoming available later in the summer when the crops are in-season.

• It’s affordable. In addition to the potential cost savings of buying directly from farmers and goods producers with no middle man, the market participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and offers Double Up Food Bucks in which, for those who qualify, the first $20 of produce they purchase each week are matched by the farmers market, for a total purchasing value of $40.

• Food trucks are back. This year’s market was changed from Saturday to Friday, partly to accommodate the return of popular local food trucks. El Pueblo History Museum formerly hosted a food truck event called City Center Eats. When it discontinued, former patrons voiced disappointment, said Zach Werkowitch, El Pueblo community relations manager. “It was super popular with our audience,” Werkowitch said. Two trucks were on-site Friday for the opening day of the market, but Werkowitch said the participating trucks, much like the goods vendors themselves, would rotate throughout the summer.

• It’s great for kids. With Pueblo’s notoriously hot summers, those who attend the market might be in need of a cool down after checking out the rotating vendors. For those with children, admission to the museum is free for children all summer. “So come get your food and your crafts and then go into the museum and cool off with your kids,” Werkowitch said.

• It’s a nod to the museum’s history. El Pueblo History Museum includes a replica of a 1840s-era adobe trading post and plaza. It's also the excavation site of the original 1842 El Pueblo trading post. Shopping for goods at the market is a nod to its former historical function, when buyers and barterers would purchase and trade cultivated crops and foodstuffs at the trading post.

El Pueblo Farmers Market operates 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. every Friday through Sept. 13 — but the date could be extended upon demand.

zhillstrom@chieftain.com

Twitter: @ZachHillstrom