Rain or shine, farmers markets are still ready for you

Looking at all the gray weather makes me glad I'm not out in the fields today. But local farmers and food producers are, and they'll need your business Saturday morning for sure.

What's up at some of the local markets this weekend:

The Atherton Mill and Market celebrates its third anniversary at SouthEnd in a big way. Peter Hatch, the retired director of Thomas Jefferson's historic garden at Monticello, will speak briefly at 9:45 a.m. and will sign copies of his book, "A Rich Spot of Earth," at 11 a.m. I had the chance to meet Peter a number of years ago when the Association of Food Journalists visited Monticello and he's inspiring on the subject of heirloom produce and biodiversity. Other festivities: the Mike Strauss Band will play from 10 to noon, and chefs from Jimmy Noble's King Kitchen will do cooking demos starting around 11 a.m.

Peach season is arriving slowly, like everything else this year, but the first peaches are in. So Saturday is the start of the annual Peach Fundraiser at the Matthews Community Market. Pee-Dee Orchards of Wadesboro will have Rich May peaches for $18 a peck or $7 for a quarter peck. Proceeds help to operate the market. This week's chef demo is Marc Jacksina of Halcyon Flavors of the Earth.

I don't have specific news on the Charlotte Regional Market, the 7th Street Public and the Davidson markets, but that's probably because there's so much going on, they don't have time to writing. But you can find a guide to all the markets in the 6-county region, including a searchable map, at www.charlotteobserver.com/food. I'll also try to Tweet about what I found on my own shopping exccursion, if you want to follow along; I'm @kathleenpurvis at Twitter.com.