"Barry Bonds hit a home run in the ninth to tie the game," calls out Sean Hayden from the Rainbow Orchards apple booth to a regular customer walking by.

And so many are regular customers, like Reggie Holt of Saratoga who has frequented the market steadily for the last few years.

"It's for the variety and freshness," she says, "not necessarily because it's cheaper." She also finds that the food holds up longer and it's more rewarding buying directly from farmers. With her two kids in tow, she is browsing for broccolini, a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale, something not readily available at many stores. The kids enjoy coming for all the free samples, says Mom.

How it works

The farmers market is a phenomenon that has taken off as people discover the benefits of buying their produce fresh, thus providing an alternative to the chain grocery store.

But make no mistake, this isn't some loosely clad collection of hodgepodge farmers—instead, it's highly organized. Farmers must be certified by the Department of Agriculture before selling at a farmers market. This guarantees that farmers grow their own produce and aren't just reselling it.

"It's direct marketing from the farmer to the consumer and takes away the middleman," says Lori Oleson, an agricultural biologist with the Department of Agriculture whose agency oversees certification. Farmers can be fined and suspended for 18 months if found in violation, she says. But more stringent are the regulations of the markets themselves, which will ask the offender to leave for good.

These local markets allow farmers to circumvent the large distribution process so consumers can buy fresh, vine-ripened produce that was picked right before market. "This gives consumers a better product," says Oleson.

Produce at grocery stores, on the other hand, must be picked early so it withstands travel and is given gases for color, she says.

And some fruits not in season, like the apples from Rainbow Orchards, were placed in cold storage after being picked fresh to preserve freshness. Apple Hill, at an elevation of 4,500 feet with its cool nights, produces the apples found at the market today.

Another selling point of a farmers market is the wide variety of produce not readily available at chain supermarkets.

Doug Hayden, president of the California Farmers Markets Association and Sean's father, helps farmers and keeps things running smoothly. Along with the Saratoga farmers markets, this nonprofit association is responsible for seven other farmers markets in the Bay Area. It began in 1977, but it was in the mid-1980s that business really started taking off, affording farmers an avenue for increasing sales and, for some, a new lease on life.

Many of the Vietnamese at farmers markets today come from the Fresno/Merced area, says Hayden, where they settled after the Vietnam War ended. Government land subsidies allowed them to take up farming and allow them self-sufficiency.

Goods offered at a market differ from city to city depending upon the residents' personal preferences and factors like ethnicity. The markets have a careful balance of products for sale so as not to inundate consumers with too much of one item. And since there is a waiting list of farmers wishing to get in, one particular food item could easily fill the whole market.

The group of vendors remains stable year to year. About 95 percent are the same as last year, says Hayden. Rarely does someone drop out, and if they do, it's most likely because they've landed a lucrative contract with a chain like Costco.

Vendors are encouraged to market their products and educate consumers as well. "There are promotional capabilities they can do, like holding food taste tests," says Hayden. This particular day, different kinds of smoked salmon were being tested by the Brookside Fish Company. But on another day it might be a peach farmer bringing in different varieties to see what people like. This gives farmers direct input for decision making.

Passing out free samples also introduces consumers to products they might not otherwise try. Farmers are encouraged to educate people on the different growing regions for their product and how soil and climate affect taste.

Since shoppers at farmers markets tend to have a high educational level, this makes the markets a good fit for more-expensive items like organic produce. These shoppers are also more likely to pay higher prices for items like artesan cheese sold by Spring Hill Jersey Cheese from Sonoma County. It costs more but touts the benefits of no hormones and its Jersey cows rather than the more customary Holsteins.

In addition, there are techniques vendors can use to attract customers. It's a known fact that nothing attracts customers like a crowd; it's called the herd effect. "No one wants to be the first," explains Hayden. So offering free samples and greeting potential customers are used to draw in customers. Once there is one customer at the booth, others are likely to follow.

The people

Vendors add personality and color to the market; many have an interesting story, too. Street musician Jeffrey Gambardella, aka "Big Dog," is playing his guitar this drizzly day. The heavyset musician with long, flowing gray hair is serenading the crowd clad in teal sweatshirt in honor of his favorite hockey team and other steady gig. For besides playing at farmers markets, he plays on the sidewalk across the street from the arena for those going to San Jose Sharks games.

He's selective about other engagements at the arena—he won't play for just any concert because "I just can't handle the younger crowd," he says.

But with 40 hockey games a year, there are more than enough dates, and the playoffs now mean an extra bonus. "Everything's been up a notch because of the playoffs." This means more rock & roll for the crowd.

In another time and place, he was actually a kicker for George Allen's Washington Redskins football team for one season before injuring his knees. But now music is his full-time profession. Equipped with his portable amplifier and music protected in plastic sheets to guard against the rain, he provides the ambiance for the crowd.

Vendors are frequently referred to by a moniker associated with their product—there's the honey lady and the salmon man, for instance. Everyone's very friendly, and socializing is the order of the day.

The DiCecco family's farm is located in Gilroy, and the DiCeccos are selling portobello mushrooms at Countryside Mushrooms. The patriarch, Albert, has been a little under the weather and not working the market since last fall. However, for 92 years old, he does pretty well. His children range in age from 70 to the youngest—3 years old.

For Andy Rivas, the farmers market is a way to start off earning a living since finishing school. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in agronomy, an agricultural program focused on soil systems and management, from Cal State Pomona, the forgotten sister of Cal Poly, says Rivas. His booth, Early Heritage, sells heirloom and rare vegetable seedlings that are non-genetically altered and raised in a greenhouse in Aptos. Some are more than 100 years old.

Many at the market travel long distances to sell at this particular location. The Nanalis family comes from Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County to sell its strawberries. While the parents work the Sunnyvale market, daughter Vannesa helps out at Saratoga.

Santa Maria grows extremely sweet strawberries because of the heat and arid climate. It's worthwhile coming such a distance, too, as the area has too many strawberry farmers, so it's difficult getting into a local farmers market.

Regional considerations enter into these decisions as well. The strawberries in the southern part of the state come in early, around late February. This is four to five weeks before the Watsonville strawberries are ready, so consumers benefit with a longer buying period. In addition, they get better prices up here, says Hayden. But for Nanalis, none of this really matters, nor is she particularly interested in learning the family business.

"I like the money I earn," the teen laughs. The family spends the night in a local hotel and works the Mountain View market on Sunday before heading home.

Others, like Chi-Tao Yuan, sell at the market as a hobby or an avocation. During the week, he's an engineer at a high-tech company, but come weekends he's the owner of Yuan's Garden of Maples and is out selling his Japanese maple trees. Also called Golden Full Moon, Yuan's Saratoga backyard is filled with them. His wife doesn't necessarily share his enthusiasm, but she helps out at the market nonetheless.

"I've always been fond of maples and went to a flea market where I met my mentor, or maple sensei," he says jokingly. That was eight years ago, and he's been selling at the farmers market for the last five years, after learning how to propagate the trees by grafting.

Yuan enjoys sharing his expertise and introducing others to this beautiful tree. Sometimes collectors stop by his booth and he'll spend more time chatting than selling. But that's OK, it's really why he's there. He also does house calls if someone needs advice on a particular tree that seems to be ailing.

"I see the landscape and growing environment and give input," he says.

It's a great deal of work to put into a hobby and it never ends. "My backyard is a magnet and calls for my attention," he says.

Not everyone sells produce either. There's Roli-Roti, the purveyor of rotisserie chicken sold only at farmers markets. Zurich-born Thomas Odermatt started the business in Hayward and everything needed is inside the self-contained, custom-built, mobile truck imported from Europe.

Besides the obvious advantages of fresh produce, farmers markets fill other needs as well. They give people a chance to mingle with neighbors, chat with their favorite vendors and slow down enough to enjoy the process of shopping as much as the food itself.

In the fast-paced society of today, it's a throwback to another time.