Spring is a great time to visit the farmers market. Some of our favorite spring vegetables -- like artichokes, rhubarb and asparagus -- cover the tables. Blossoming trees provide picturesque shade and temperatures are still cool enough that it's comfortable to mill about in a crowd. (Unlike the height of summer when the farmers market can feel like a sticky swarm of slow-moving bodies.)
Whatever the season, however, the farmers market is thrilling because each week brings new produce we're excited to reacquaint ourselves with. It's also comforting, because certain things are so reliable. There will always be a quiet calm in the early morning, followed by a rush and by 1 p.m. you're lucky if there's anything of value left. There will always be the purveyors eager to tell you about their fare, and there will always be the house plants and flowers you really want to buy but remind yourself you don't really need. (And then hopefully you buy some anyway.)
The farmers market is also reliably full of a predictable cast of characters. Some of them we love, some give us a good laugh and others make us never want to visit the farmers market again. Here are 15 people you'll probably see at the farmers market.