IN SEASON

Choose the springtime simile of your liking: butterflies emerging from their cocoons, daffodils bursting into bloom, ants invading your kitchen. Just like one of those, outdoor farmers markets are waking up all over metro Atlanta.

If you’ve never been to a local market in spring, this is an especially festive time to visit. Farmers are excited about the new season, regular shoppers are happy to return to their weekly ritual and no one’s hot from sitting in the sun too long.

Peachtree Road Farmers Market started April 4. Alpharetta’s is the latest to come back to life; it starts Saturday in conjunction with the city’s springtime celebration, Alpharetta Arts Streetfest. This year the Alpharetta Farmers Market —- in its third season —- is putting new emphasis on two words: “Georgia” and “organic.”

“We’re trying to go more green and more local,” said market manager Carol Anderson-Wood. “It’s going to take a little transition, but we’re working on it.”

Although a couple of returning vendors use conventional growing methods, new applicants must use natural farming techniques. “We’re also asking everybody to label things that are not from Georgia,” Anderson-Wood said. “We’re just moving in that direction.”

So is the nation. There are many sensible reasons to buy naturally grown, local produce —- health and environment chief among them —- but fans of farmers markets know the true reasons. Once you taste a radish or beet that has come out of the ground that morning, once you experience the joy of selecting carrots with the greens (and dirt) still attached and shake the hand that harvested them, once you reawaken in yourself the urge to connect, in a tangible way, with food we eat and the land we live on … once you do these things, you’ll never look back. Alpharetta Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, Old Roswell Street, downtown Alpharetta.

Other farmers market opening:

Cotton Mill Farmers Market opens April 25. Saturdays 8 a.m.-noon. Bradley Street, two blocks south of the Carrollton square.

AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

Arugula, asparagus, beets, bok choy, cabbage, carrots, chard, dandelion, escarole, green garlic, green onions, greens, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, microgreens, radicchio, radishes, spinach, strawberries, tatsoi, turnips, brussels sprouts

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Looking good: Washington apples, Caribbean asparagus, California and Florida beans, Mexican and Texas beets, Caribbean blackberries, Chilean and Florida blueberries, California and Mexican broccoli, California carrots and cauliflower, Florida and California celery, Mexican and South Carolina green onions, Mexican honeydews, Chilean kiwifruit and peaches, South American and Washington pears, Florida and Mexican peppers, Chilean plums and raspberries, California romaine and spinach, Florida strawberries, Florida and Mexican tomatoes

Coming in: Georgia cabbage; California greens, corn, eggplant and peppers; Arizona romaine, North Carolina strawberries, Florida watermelons

Questionable: California artichokes; Mexican beans, blackberries and carrots; Caribbean and California peas, Oregon rhubarb (light harvest because of rain)

Beets:

> Roasting beets brings out their sweetness. Serve hot or cold.

> Juice ‘em. Try beet juice blended with apple or carrot juice.

Fennel, Orange and Candy-striped Beet Salad

4 servings

Hands on: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 1/2 hours

Fennel and orange are good together, orange and beets are good together and goat cheese is good on just about anything. If candy-striped (chioggia) beets are unavailable, any fresh beet will do.

1 bunch candy cane beets (5 or 6 small or 2 or 3 large)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large fennel bulb

2 seedless oranges

2 ounces lemon goat cheese

Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim and scrub the beets, reserving the greens for another use. Place the beets in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (If any of the beets are significantly larger or smaller than the others, place on a separate sheet of foil.) Wrap the foil tightly around the beets and roast in the oven until a knife tip inserted into the largest beet goes in easily, 40 to 60 minutes. Cool until the beets are easy to handle. Dip in cold water and rub off the skins. Slice the beets into 1/4-inch-thick disks.

While the beets cook, wash and trim the fennel bulb, then quarter, core and slice very thinly. Transfer to a serving bowl. Use a very sharp knife to cut away the peel and pith of the oranges. Working over the serving bowl to capture the juices, carefully cut along each segment line and pop out the orange segments. Arrange the segments decoratively over the fennel slices. Top with the beet slices, then crumble the goat cheese over all.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil into the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad.

Per serving: 245 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 6 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 19 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 15 milligrams cholesterol, 129 milligrams sodium.