Sarah McClellan-Welch, an agriculture agent in Cherokee, loves to see hand-made wooden signs on garden stakes at the end of people’s driveways advertising pole beans, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce and sundry other produce during the growing season.

Other farmers are so well known for selling produce they don’t even put up signs. The extended family — which can constitute dozens of relatives and community members — simply show up and buy extra bushels.

Thanks to the long-standing informal exchange between farmers with surplus produce and community members seeking locally grown food, when the Cherokee Cooperative Extension launched a farmer’s market last August it took off despite being late in the growing season.

“We knew of farmers who possibly had extra vegetables and were interested in selling,” McClellan said. “On the consumer side people are just anxious to buy fresh produce. They were very receptive. People told their friends, families, co-workers and the word got out really quickly.”

Tammara Cole, the small farm management agent with the Cherokee Cooperative Extension, hosted a crash course for growers on how to attract people to their stand. In typical mountain tradition, growers often set out baskets or heaps of produce on the tailgates of their pick-up trucks. Spreading a colorful blanket or tablecloth over the tailgate not only draws people to that individual stand but boosts the look of the whole market.

Another tip: bring more produce than you expect to sell. Psychologically, people are more attracted by bountiful baskets.

“You don’t want three sad pieces of fruit in there. You want it in abundance,” Cole said.

The biggest draw for market-goers isn’t always the produce, however.

“Typically, farmers chat with people who come and buy from them. People are always interested in what do you grow, where do you grow, how do you grow,” Cole said. “That friendly atmosphere is one reason people like to come.”

McClellan and Cole are now planning for the 2005 Cherokee Farmer’s Market, which will start up in May. While it is early in the growing season for many vegetables, propagated seedlings are a big seller that time of year when casual gardens are planting a few vegetables and flowers in their yards.

The farmers’ market will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays on Aquani Road, a main thoroughfare in the central working district of Cherokee. Farmers interested in getting involved with the 2005 market season can contact the Cherokee Cooperative Extension at 828.497.3521.