Saint Michael’s Farmers Market. Photo courtesy of Saint Michael’s.

For the past decade, Saint Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church has hosted a farmers market to bring together local sellers and neighbors.

The Saint Michael’s Farmers Market is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. National Farmers Market Week began Sunday.

Victor Valdez is one of the early vendors at the market. Besides the online store he sometimes uses to sell his salsas and tamales, the market at Saint Michael’s is the only place to find his products.

“If it wasn’t for this market, a lot of us wouldn’t have as good as a presence in Dallas in the farmers market scene as we do now,” Valdez said.

He’s stayed loyal to the market for nine years because of its focus on food and its location. Valdez is able to reach Preston Hollow and Park Cities neighbors, as well as East Dallas neighbors.

Valdez is the sole owner and operator of Becerra’s Tex-Mex Tamales. He purchases the ingredients, produces the food and shows up to the market every weekend to sell it to neighbors.

Availability changes, but among Valdez’s product offerings include jalapeño, verde and serrano salsas; serrano barbecue sauce; and a range of tamales such as mesquite-smoked barbecue brisket, Gulf shrimp and crab, chicken verde, traditional pork, hot pork, traditional beef brisket, jalapeño cream cheese and veggie.

But it all started with salsa.

“Nothing in the market was really anything that I liked, and I knew I could come up with a better product,” Valdez said.

He participated in the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival in 2012, and his jalapeño salsa won third place. The next year, his salsa verde won first.

Eventually he moved on to tamales, trying to replicate the recipe of his grandparents, who started Becerra’s Tortillas in Bryan in 1963.

Just this year, Valdez has sold out at the Saint Michael’s market in 11 of 15 weekends. He often tries to promote and support other vendors as well.

“It’s a pretty tight-knit community as far as vendors are concerned,” Valdez said.

Saint Michael’s Farmers Market is held in the west parking lot of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, at 8011 Douglas Ave. at Colgate Road. It is open 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday until Oct. 25.Â