Maynard Swarey, one of the hardworking crew at the Nathan Yoder family farm, hauls in plants, baked goods, produce and home-made jams and sells them under the canopy from 11 to 5:30.

Another strategy for those running low on food in the middle of the week is the Shady Lane Farm market at Crozet’s Brownsville Market. This Thursday market opens June 7, and continues through the season from 3 to 7 on Thursday afternoons. A festive opening day at Cutright Lake in North Garden will feature produce, baked goods and farm-made cheeses, as well as food and ice cream trucks. It’s the same place but a different name for the former Red Hill Market, now the North Garden Farmers Market, said advisory board member Dolores Dwyer. Maynard Swarey of Shady Lane Farmers Market at Brownsville Market. Saturday is also the day for the opening of the Nelson Farmers Market Cooperative in Nellysford, a huge outdoor market featuring music, cheese, all kinds of prepared food and home-grown meats, exhibits and crafts, as well as produce and baked goods. The market grows each year and features helpful advice from local master gardeners on alternate weeks. and continues through the season with fresh produce, honey, eggs, mushrooms and baked goods every week, ending each Saturday at noon. The Crozet Farmers Market opens Saturday, May 5, at 8 a.m. According to the coalition, farmers markets help farmers keep more of their profits, protect open land, give people better access to fresh food, and in general stimulate the local economy with more jobs and more customers. She pointed to statistics compiled by the Farmers Market Coalition, a national non-profit.

It’s a good thing, said Mary Delicate of the Virginia Farmers Market Association. You don’t have to look far these days to find a farmer with a basketful of fresh produce for sale. Lisa Henson with asparagus from Chiles Orchard.

Vivir el Dream by Allison K. Garcia