The Market also offered workshops (urban gardening, health care, alternative energy, and home canning and preserving) in its first season as part of the neighborhood development effort.

By 1985 the market season had been expanded until Thanksgiving and added vendors, including fresh-flowers and French breads. An Evening Sun article explained how to shop at the outdoor markets (“Go early [and] do not expect to barter”). It pointed out that children could be acquainted with foods they may not see all the time, to bring paper bags, and that it was a good idea to leave dogs at home.