The White Rock Local Market was a bustling hub of early-autumn activity on Saturday as people shopped for fresh seasonal produce and homemade goods.

The Oasis Express, a shuttle service organized by members of the SMU Environmental Society, connected students to the market for the first time on Saturday.

The market featured a wide variety of homegrown products, including everything from farm-fresh to baked that morning. Savvy locals brought their own reusable grocery bags and loaded up.

Local farmers were seen selling early-season produce like squash, eggplant, melons, peppers, tomatoes and okra.

Dispersed among the tents housing colorful arrays of freshly harvested, organically-grown fruits and vegetables were tents offering goods such as artisan bread, olive oils, jams, salsa and homemade pasta. There were plenty of free samples to go around.

One of the first items to sell out was the chocolate croissant from Village Baking Co. The rich, thick chocolate center was wrapped in flaky, buttery croissant dough.

The vegetables looked a little different from the ones at the regular grocery store.

Mainly, they seemed smaller than their non-organic counterparts, which the farmers reminded buyers are grown using fertilizers and pesticides. Organic produce is grown without the use of these aforementioned chemicals.

Sitting atop a red and white checkered tablecloth were stacks of “Stephanie’s Cookies.”

There were a wide variety of cookies for sale, including sea salt chocolate, lemon blueberry, oatmeal cranberry and chocolate chip.

The bite-sized chocolate chip cookies, made with a natural sweetener called stevia, were moist and delicious and densely populated with mini chocolate chips.

Students should take advantage of everything the market has to offer. Many fruits and vegetables can be purchased for under $5. The famous chocolate croissant was only $2!