Olivia Prodin, 9, of Chelsea Brownie Troop 1095, spent her morning at the opening day of the Chelsea Downtown Farmers’ Market helping younger children plant begonias in flower pots as a special Mother’s Day event.

She and her mom, Robin Prodin, had planted about a dozen flowers by midmorning.

“We have better opening day weather than the Tigers,” said Larry Doll of Back Forty Acres, a longtime vendor at the Chelsea market located in the Chelsea District Library parking lot off Park Street. The farm sells naturally raised meat, poultry and free-range eggs.

Chelsea resident Jennifer Kundak spent most of her morning wandering through the numerous booths at the market that were selling everything from baked goods to flowers, handicrafts to dog beds.

As the season progresses, more produce and locally grown products will become available.

“We are fortunate to have this wonderful gathering of vendors and locally grown food, and we’re pleased to have an ever-expanding market here. You never know what you’re going to find,” Kundak said.

There are several new vendors this season, including Chris Alexandrowski, who was selling artisan dark chocolate at her Chocolate Harvest booth.

“I like to say this is a healthier version of chocolate, with organic fruits and nuts,” she said, adding she’d chosen to have a booth at the Chelsea market because she’d been visiting Chelsea since she was a child.

Also new to the market was H & H Sugarbush, LLC, of Chelsea. The business was selling locally tapped maple syrup and candy.

“We’re from Chelsea and we’ve come here to shop so we thought we’d try something new and see how it goes,” said Michelle Hedding.

She and her husband, Kirk, tap more than 200 maple trees. “Everything is hand collected,” said Kirk Hedding.

Sally Sivrais of Chelsea was back selling her Great Lakes Stone Birdhouses with rocks from the Great Lakes.

She said she goes to Lake Superior when the snow’s melting for the best selection. “I love little stones and decided to put them on birdhouses,” she said, adding that the houses are sold to people in different states because they include Michigan stones.

Stephanie Doll, one of the market masters, said she’s looking for volunteers to help with the community booths and assist with the market. Anyone interested in information about the market or in volunteering can email coordinator@chelseafarmersmkt.org.

The market is open from 8 a.m. to noon each Saturday. Next week, the featured attraction will be the Chelsea Children’s Choir at 11:30 a.m.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.