SLIDESHOW: Take a tour of the 17th Street Farmer's Market

Why shop at a farmers' market?

a. The vendors are local, and that means what you buy is, too.

b. The food is fresh, just picked or baked.

c. You'll find varieties you'll never see in a supermarket.

d. In many cases, the produce is organic.

e. It's convenient.

f. All of the above.

The answer: f, but we could go on with a list that runs all the way to z.

Instead, let's have a farmer answer the question:

"The food products are fresher, plus you're helping the local economy," said Rory Bray, who runs CCL Farm in Keysville with wife Mary and son Justin and produces all-natural pork, poultry and eggs.

"It's not being trucked across the country," he said. "You're helping us local farmers, and everything just tastes better."

Variety show. Shoppers at Richmond's 17th Street Farmers' Market could go home last week with new things to eat (red Russian kale and Tuscan kale from Amy Hicks' New Kent farm) and new things to plant now and eat later (violetto aromatic robust red Genovese-style basil from Russell Bell, who started the plants from seeds imported from Italy).

Or they could visit market mainstays Evelyn Allen and sister Rosa Fleming, who have sold their Hanover County produce for more than 60 and 50 years, respectively, for more familiar fare: sweet potatoes, greens and more.

Local, local, local. And fresh, too. "We gather ours up one day before coming in so it can be fresh," Fleming said.

Gina Collins, who owns Victory Farms in Hanover with husband Charlie, brings heirloom vegetables to market. "They don't travel so well, so they haven't been mass produced to be able to ship across the country or across the oceans," she said.

"These are the things that are going to be a little more perishable, a little more fragile, but they're just full of flavor and interesting shapes and sizes and colors, and they just make your plate look incredible, too."

Organic. Chemical free. Many farmers' market vendors raise their wares this way, but, until you learn your way around, ask questions.

"It's important to find out whether people use chemicals or not," Fleming said, "because chemicals are not good in this day and time. We do not use chemicals."

Consider the source. "It's nice to come to the farmers' market, because you get to actually know your farmer," said Eli Green, who works for Hicks. "And you know where your food is coming from. When you come here, it's just 20 miles away."

In the neighborhood. In this neck of the state, there are at least 12 farmers' markets, according to the folks who keep track at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Most run on Saturdays, but if that's not convenient, you can find one around here every other day of the week but Monday. Check out our list on Page E3.

And if you're worried about park ing, stop. Even Richmond's 17th Street Farmers' Market in Shockoe Bottom has free parking in the lot immediately behind it.

You get what you pay for. Sometimes farmers' markets cost more than supermarkets; sometimes they don't.

Last week, you could buy a quart of Westmoreland County strawberries for $5, a dozen Keysville eggs from free-range chickens for $3.75 and two of Richmond's Grammy O's enormous, just-baked sticky buns for $5.

It helps to carry prices in your head -- or last week's supermarket receipt in your pocket.

But you can't put a price on this. "My experience is the vendors here offer a quality product that has a lot of love infused in it," said Heather Glissman, who owns Grammy O's Sticky Buns and also shops at the market. "They really bring a lot of their hearts along with their products."

Got any insider tips for us? "Come early, because a lot of the vendors do really well," Bray said. "The best is the first half of the market."

"Ask questions," Fleming said. "Where is this coming from? When did you pick it?"

We'll give a shopper the last word. "I think it's better food," said Justin Morgan, who was picking up his weekly share from his membership in Victory Farms' community-supported agriculture program. "It certainly gets me to eat vegetables, which I wouldn't do otherwise."

Contact Jann Malone at (804) 649-6820 or jmalone@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer Bill Lohmann contributed to this report.