"I never knew China Spring had a farmer's market." Nancee Siebert told the Waco Tribune-Herald that people kept saying this to her, after she'd spent about three years selling jams at that very market. By then the China Spring Farmers and Craft Market had been running for years. Most people just couldn't see it.
What changed was the address. The market moved to a lot people pass every day, and turnout climbed fast. The Saturday, Nov. 21 market is the first Thanksgiving week since that move.
Five years tucked away on Illinois Avenue
The Tribune-Herald reported that from 2020 the market set up at 301 Illinois Ave., on the grounds of First Baptist Church of China Spring. Co-founder Joann Martinez told the paper the space felt familiar. Vendors had still outgrown it because parking was limited and the lot was hard to see. The paper described the old site as hidden from any major road.
That hidden spot shaped who came back. Sara Prikryl, who runs the Happy to Exist baked goods booth, told the Tribune-Herald what selling there was like: "People would come out once, and it would be slow, and then they'd never come back." She said vendors were hard to recruit too, "because with this particular market, you have to be consistent."
A farmers market depends on a loop. Shoppers show up when they expect vendors, and vendors show up when they expect shoppers. A lot nobody drives past stalls that loop before it gets going.
What a spot on China Spring Road did to the numbers
The market took its usual August break in 2025. When it came back, it set up at China Spring United Methodist Church, 12301 Yankie Road, a spot you can see from China Spring Road. In the Tribune-Herald's October 2025 story, Martinez said turnout had grown "by at least triple" in the month after the move.
| Before the move | After the move, fall 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | 301 Illinois Ave., First Baptist Church of China Spring | 12301 Yankie Road, China Spring UMC |
| Visibility | Away from any major road | Visible from China Spring Road |
| Small businesses over a season | 31 | 58 |
| Typical weekend | Not reported | More than 30 vendors |
| Customer turnout | Baseline | "At least triple," per Martinez |
The vendor count is the number that shows the loop working. Going from 31 to 58 small businesses over a season means the new spot pulled in sellers as well as shoppers, nearly doubling the roster. The paper described the church site as offering what the market had been missing: open space and steady traffic along one of China Spring's busiest roads.
Martinez put it in local terms. The site is "highly visible," she told the Tribune-Herald, and it gives locals "a place to know where their beef comes from, or their lavender, or their vegetables." Ronnie Gill, who has lived in China Spring more than two decades, told the paper he'd watched the market grow from a handful of vendors into something that draws steady traffic every weekend.
The vendors who built their weeks around it
Once traffic became predictable, vendors could plan bigger. The Tribune-Herald's account of the first fall on Yankie Road shows what that planning looks like:
- Happy to Exist. Prikryl said traffic to her baked goods business became far more consistent after the relocation. She also told the paper she and Siebert became friends through the market and even have matching signs.
- Nannie's Canning Cupboard. Siebert's homemade jams were on her table the morning the paper visited. She said the new site made the market far easier to find: "Everybody knows we're here now."
- LC Bees Honey. Lawrence Hurley was photographed handing out honey samples. Organizers told the paper customer and vendor counts were both up significantly.
- KM Homestead. Co-owners Megan Medley and Kody Hernandez started their small bakery while both were still in college. Medley said they sometimes spend upward of 14 hours baking on Fridays before a market.
- JK Kreations. Jeannie Margoitta had sold handmade crafts and decor at the market for about two years. She told the paper, "I've got a lot of people that come back, and I've got a lot of new people."
A baker only commits to a 14-hour Friday when Saturday's crowd is reliable. That same reliability is what lets the market plan a holiday menu.
The fall calendar, and the one date left before Thanksgiving
The market's published schedule puts it on the UMC grounds at 12301 Yankie Road on select Saturdays this fall:
- Saturday, Oct. 3: Fall Harvest & Community Reopening Market
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Makers & Artisans Mid-Autumn Fair
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Chili Cook-Off & Farm Stand Market
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Thanksgiving Table Farmers Market
The China Spring UMC calendar also lists a farmers market on Nov. 21. On the market's schedule, the Nov. 21 market is billed with pre-orders for ranch turkeys and beef roasts, fresh pecan pies, cranberry preserves and table centerpieces. With Nov. 7 now behind us, it's the last date on the fall schedule. Thanksgiving is the following Thursday, so it lands in the window when most holiday shopping happens anyway.
The schedule says that on rainy mornings the market moves inside the church's air-conditioned Youth Center Hall. It points shoppers to the market's Facebook group for live updates. Check that group the week of Nov. 16 for the day's hours, the weather plan and how pre-orders work, before you build your Saturday around it.
Planning a Thanksgiving-week Saturday on Yankie Road
The market sits right on the road a lot of China Spring traffic already uses, so a stop fits into errands you're running anyway. A few ways to make the Nov. 21 trip count:
- Go early for the best selection. The market's schedule calls the first stretch after opening the time with the best selection of greens and sourdough. If pies or preserves are on your Thanksgiving list, come early.
- Ask about pre-orders before the day. If a ranch turkey or beef roast is part of your plan, the Facebook group is the place to ask how and when orders are taken.
- Bring a cooler. Honey, jams and baked goods ride home fine. Anything you pre-order for the holiday table is easier with a cooler in the back seat.
- Pair it with a dessert table. The vendors the Tribune-Herald profiled lean toward the sweet side of the meal: jams from Nannie's Canning Cupboard, honey from LC Bees, baked goods from Happy to Exist and KM Homestead. That covers a lot of the dessert and bread table.
- Look for gifts while you're there. Margoitta's handmade decor at JK Kreations is the kind of table that gets you started on December shopping.
Just over a year after the move, the market has a fall schedule, a rain plan and a Thanksgiving menu. Siebert told the Tribune-Herald her customers had spent years being surprised the market existed at all. On Nov. 21, from 12301 Yankie Road, it's hard to miss.
We're proud to call China Spring part of our home turf, and we love seeing neighbors back local makers like these. If you have questions about life along China Spring Road, from Saturday routines to the land and homes around Yankie Road, the team at WestLand Realty Group is always glad to talk. Contact Our WestLand Experts.
