Finally, it's time.

The farmers markets are opening and beginning to sell early local produce and plants, flowers and other fresh treats.

Our long wait is over!

Part of their charm, mind you, is that many local markets, by tradition, won't sell before a specific time. For most of the Citiparks farmers markets that are opening this week, the farmers and other vendors can't sell until a Citiparks staffer gives the go -- right at 3:30 p.m. for most of the seven markets.

		Interactive map: Farmers markets Locate farmers markets throughout the region, with details on days, hours and specialties, on our interactive map.

At the Original Farmers Night Market in South Fayette, which opened May 1, you won't get anyone to wait on you, especially once the season really heats up in July, until 5:30 p.m., when one of the Janoskis activates the "bell," as everyone calls the electric siren.

Sonny Janoski, the market president, says, "That bell has been hanging there for 30 years." Before that, it sounded at the market's previous location in Heidelberg, and before that, in the original location on the North Side, where it started in the 1930s.

"I was probably born at the market," says Mr. Janoski, who started going to market from the family farm in Cecil when he was still in the womb.

The rule of the "bell" is to make sure that vendors don't get an unfair advantage by selling earlier than their peers. After all, farmers have to harvest the crops before hauling them to market.

Regular farmers market customers, who can be impatient any time of the year, are champing at the bit to start buying stuff as the season sprouts. Markets are opening earlier and earlier, including the Thursday one on Downtown's Market Square, which opened April 29.

It seems as if there are more farmers markets than ever, as every neighborhood and town vies to hold its own. The Post-Gazette's freshly updated list, which you can find on Page E-4, includes more than 80.

This season, we've plotted them on an interactive map that you can check out at post-gazette.com/food.

A few farmers markets, including the one in Avella in Washington County and the one in Etna, couldn't recruit enough farmers to hold a market this year. Judy Becki says the Etna's location is under construction, anyway. She hopes the market will return better than ever next season.

"We have a lot of vendors who want to come with other kinds of things but obviously you can't call it a farmers market without the farmers."

That's not a problem for Pittsburgh's Citiparks markets. "They seem to come to us," says coordinator Tom Driscoll, who's been running the markets since 1977, just a couple of years after they were started by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

When asked to help that first year, Mr. Driscoll's question was "What's a farmers market?" and the city had just one -- open 3 to 11 p.m. on Mon., Wed. and Fri. on the North Side.

This season, sharing 25 farmers and 28 other vendors, there are seven Citiparks markets. The Mount Washington and West End markets won't be held -- they didn't do well last season, and those neighborhoods are close to busy markets in South Side and Green Tree -- but Citiparks is opening a one in Beechview at St. Catherine of Siena Church. It'll be held from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. starting June 18.

Mr. Driscoll says he's constantly getting requests from neighborhoods as farmers markets only get more popular every year. "I think everyone is into the healthy diet." With all the food scares in the news, "They want to know where their food is coming from"

Other new markets in the region this year include one focused on organic and naturally grown produce at Oakland's Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Called "Farmers at Phipps," a la the Farmers@Firehouse market in the Strip District, the market has been organized by Phipps and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, which is managing it. It opens, on Phipps front lawn on Schenley Drive, June 3 and runs from 2:30 to 6:30 pm on Wednesdays through October.

"It's going to be different than any farmers market in Pittsburgh," says Kelly Ogrodnik, Phipps' sustainable design and programs manager, who notes that some booths will have wares from several farmers, including one at which a representative from the Northwest Pennsylvania Growers Co-op will sell for nine members.

The market, which has lined up 18 vendors so far, was a natural extension for the conservatory, which also supports local food at the Cafe at Phipps, says Ms. Ogrodnik. "There's such a vital connection with people, plants and food."

Many consumers want to know that the produce and other products are local. That doesn't necessarily mean organic, but even if farmers aren't certified as organic, they may grow with organic or natural/ sustainable practices. The nice thing about farmers markets is you usually can talk with the farmer about what you want to know -- from how the stuff is grown to how to prepare it.

This early in the season, markets only have limited vendors and products. If you hit the Citiparks markets this week, expect lettuces, green onions, rhubarb, asparagus, radishes, and of course non-produce items from breads to salsas, Mr. Driscoll says.

But no matter: You'll be shopping outside for good eats, and supporting local agriculture. Farmers market time is a season to celebrate.

Upcoming opening days include the Whitehall Borough Farmers Market on June 15, when the first 100 customers will receive free "eco-friendly" grocery bags.

The Vandergrift Farmers Market opens on June 18 with the band Ar Eigean Gael and a storyhour.

Many markets hold regular entertainment (including the Main Street Farmers Market in Washington) and cooking demonstrations (Farmers@Firehouse). On the second Saturday of each month, the Slippery Rock Farmers Market will present demos by the chefs from North Country Brewing Co.

In a region that still is more agricultural than most residents realize (PASA estimates that Western Pennsylvania farmers markets add more than $38 million to the economy each year), we are blessed with a wide range of markets.

You can find one at an old train station on a recreational trail (McDonald Trail Station on the Panhandle Trail), at a 1870 public market house (in Meadville), at a winery (La Casa Narcisi in West Deer) and at the New Stanton Service Plaza of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

This year, there's even a new weekly farms stand on the third floor of the Investment Building in the heart of Downtown.