One of the best things about summer is having access to a wide variety of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables – tomatoes, squash, green beans, field peas, potatoes, okra, corn, strawberries, peaches.

If you don’t mind getting hot and dirty, you can grow your own in a backyard garden and save a bunch of money on your weekly food bill. Or, you can take the easy way out by visiting a farmer’s market.

I prefer the former because I grew up on a family farm where growing a big, big garden was a way of life. A big portion of our 40 acres of cultivatable land was devoted to growing vegetable crops.

My dad was a peddler who transported the fruits and vegetables we grew and sold them house-to-house to city dwellers 30 miles away three days a week. Of course, a bountiful harvest meant that we always had plenty of fresh food for the dinner table as well as plenty to preserve for the winter months. It also provided a steady cash flow to supplement our cotton crop.

My dad’s passion growing vegetables and his resourcefulness for marketing them has been passed down to one of my two sons and one of his grandsons.

Clifton B. Knight has a small farm in Decatur where he grows a wide variety of vegetables and markets them at the Morgan County Farmers Market in Decatur. He began experimenting with its rich soil about five years ago while still serving as an active duty soldier attached to the Alabama Army National Guard.

His success at growing trophy-size watermelons was under scored in August 2011 when he established a new state record with one that tipped the scales at 228 pounds. He has since retired from the Army and diversified his interests by adding a number of traditional and new vegetable varieties.

I had the opportunity to observe he and other small farmers marketing their fresh fruits and vegetables at the Farmers Market on Saturday, The market was filled with shoppers and business was brisk. All of the vendors seemed to have a good day.

In years past, Hartselle’s Farmers Market has attracted enough shoppers to make visits by local growers worthwhile. The market has apparently lost its appeal to vendors. What can we do as a city to bring our farmers back?

Clif Knight is a staff writer for the Hartselle Enquirer.