COVER STORY : Fresh Off the Farm : Alongside the produce at the weekly markets, barbecue, balloons and even cappuccino are sold. And the prices are hard to beat.

On her first visit to the Santa Clarita Farmers Market, Kellie Barcia planned to browse just a few minutes and per haps pick up a few lemons. Instead, the Valencia resident found herself tasting pasta sauces, sipping cappuccino and collecting recipes.

Within an hour, her arms were loaded with bags of Brussels sprouts, a pound of mushrooms, a loaf of just-baked bread, a container of Italian salsa, two potted plants--and three lemons.

“Next time I’m going to buy some dried fruits,� she said, munching on an apple. “Did you see those raisins? They were the plumpest I’ve ever seen.�

Farmers markets are a little bit country, a little bit carnival, part roadside stand and part street fair. Produce--usually picked the day before--is delivered straight from the farm. And because the middleman is eliminated, fruits and vegetables cost up to 30% less than they do at the supermarket, according to the Southland Farmers’ Market Assn.

Much of the fun lies in meeting the farmers, who are eager to share recipes, dispense advice and suggest tips for back-yard gardeners. Many offer samples, handing out slices of fruits and vegetables to passersby. Folk singers, dancers and other entertainers contribute to the festive atmosphere. And while customers can’t use credit cards, redeem double coupons or pick up a prescription, they can mingle with their neighbors in a congenial, casual setting, sample half a dozen flavors of honey, buy just-laid duck eggs and bring home vine-ripened tomatoes that taste like--tomatoes.

Vegetables, fresh and dried fruits, eggs, nuts, honey, mushrooms, herbs, plants and cut flowers, as well as fresh-baked goods, ready-made salads and preserves are offered year-round at most markets. This time of year is the beginning of the major harvest for peas, kumquats and naval oranges, while artichokes, Asian pears, green beans and grapes are disappearing. (Specific offerings vary from market to market and depend on how cold, hot or wet the weather has been.)

Farmers at markets certified by the county agricultural commissioner may sell only items they grew themselves. All products must be California grown and conform to quality and appearance standards set by the state.

More than 200 certified farmers markets are held weekly throughout California, including five in and around the Valley. Another market is slated to open in April at the Van Nuys Civic Center.

Here’s a closer look at nearby farmers markets:

BURBANK FARMERS MARKET

Stationed in an unassuming parking lot, the Burbank outdoor mart is the most basic of the local farmers markets. There are no craftspeople, no entertainers, no cappuccino carts.

Perhaps to make up for the lack of extras, farmers here offer some of the best bargains anywhere. On one recent Saturday, for example, large sacks of lemons were going for $1; lush basil plants cost a mere 50 cents; avocados were three for $1. Oranges--which were “very suite� according to a hand-painted sign--were a great deal at 10 pounds for $2.

Vendors are relaxed and unhurried, eager to chat and give advice. One farmer spent several minutes patiently extolling the health benefits of kale to a skeptical gray-haired shopper. “Good for women,� he said. “Lots of calcium. Good for your osteoporosis.�

Third Street and Orange Grove Avenue; (818) 845-5718. 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday s . Five percent of proceeds go to St. Joseph Medical Center.

CALABASAS FARMERS MARKET

The “cock-a-doodle-doo!� of Bruce, the resident rooster, greets shoppers at the Calabasas Farmers Market, where wood plank walkways, bales of hay and the antiques and collectibles shops in Old Town create a picturesque western setting.

Bruce calls attention to a display of fresh, fertile eggs laid by free-roaming ducks, geese, quails, turkeys and chickens.

Another booth features herbs tied in fragrant bundles, red chilies dangling in colorful ristras , or garlands, and potpourri overflowing from large glass jars.

An Italian food booth offers fresh, stuffed and dried pasta in all shapes and colors, with an array of sauces.

Bakers sell everything from “Sinful Cinnamon Rolls� to loaves of bread baked without eggs, sugar, milk or fat. These can be washed down with several varieties of cold cider, including a tart apple-pomegranate and a sweet apple-cherry.

One Saturday, a half-dozen shoppers clustered around a jam and marmalade booth. They were tasting samples of the preserves from thimble-sized paper cups. A rose petal jam was delicately flavored, while the taste of the apple-and-walnut butter resembled homemade apple pie.

Many customers end their visit at Savannah’s, a coffee house situated in the middle of the market. They sip a latte while reading a book purchased at the used book sale (held every week to benefit a planned library) or listening to a guitarist strum pleasant folk tunes.

At the corner of Calabasas Road and El Canon Avenue; (818) 223-8696. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

ENCINO FARMERS MARKET

The Encino Farmers Market (which is actually in Van Nuys) boasts a carnival atmosphere, with the aroma of barbecue wafting through the air, farmers calling out to customers from under tents, helium balloons waving sky high and shoppers cradling showy protea blooms--a bargain at a buck each.

Craftspeople display their wares, including handmade soaps, jewelry, and hand-knit blankets, shawls and slippers. Cooking, gardening and flower-arranging demonstrations are regularly held, and dancers and singers perform weekly.

The real draw of the market is the fresh food--the sweet, ripe persimmons, organic baby greens and hand-squeezed orange juice.

Several bakers, strategically located near a cappuccino stand, offer gingerbread, brownies, coffee cakes and bread baked that morning. Those who resolved to eat healthier this year have a choice of fat-free cookies and cakes.

At a booth called It’s Sprout Time, a vendor scooped humus on hunks of sourdough bread. “Try this; it’s really good,� he said to anyone who’d listen. A shopper dragged her companion over for a sample. “This guy makes the best tabbouleh in the world,� she said. “This is what Moses ate. It’s why he lived to be 150 years old.�

17400 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys; (818) 708-6611. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. Five percent of proceeds go to the Organization for the Needs of the Elderly. Senior discounts available.

GLENDALE FARMERS MARKET

“Eat your Brussels sprouts!� cried Alex Valencia, a farmer who travels every week from Rio Grande in San Luis Obispo County to the Glendale Farmers Market. “The surgeon general says everyone should eat Brussels sprouts!�

A few customers stopped to look over the sprouts. “I should have a line of people wanting to buy this stuff, but everyone is eating pizza over there,� Valencia said in disgust, pointing to a restaurant across the street.

Valencia and the other farmers line up along Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale. Perhaps because they have to compete with the noise of the traffic and dozens of restaurants and upscale stores, the vendors try especially hard to cajole and entice customers. “Sweet! Sweet!� they call out. “Taste before you buy!�

Unusual items are sold here. Wild greens, including lambs-quarters, chickweed, mustard and sweet alyssum, are ready to toss in a salad or cook in a soup. Pencils made from twigs and trail prunings are ecologically correct writing implements, as well as conversation pieces.

One shopper paid Valencia $2 for a stalk that was longer than a man’s forearm and heavy with dozens of Brussels sprouts that hung like Christmas ornaments. “What do I do with it?� she asked.

“It’s your stalk,� he answered. “Do whatever you want. Stick it back in the dirt; put ribbons on it; amaze your neighbors.� Satisfied that he got the laugh he sought, Valencia then explained how to cook the entire stalk in a turkey roaster; then he recited a recipe for stuffed Brussels sprout leaves and demonstrated how to roll the filled leaf into a neat little burrito.

Brand Boulevard between Broadway and Wilson Avenue, (818) 449-0179. 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays.

SANTA CLARITA FARMERS MARKET Buckets of flowers are the first thing shoppers see at the Santa Clarita Farmers Market. At $2 or $3 a bunch, the riotously colored bouquets are a beautiful bargain.

Specialty items include hydroponically grown (without soil) lettuce that needs no washing, sunflower sprouts, beeswax candles, apple-walnut sauce and a variety of banana trees, including an “ice cream� plant that produces fruit that tastes like--you guessed it.

A cappuccino cart offers espresso for drinking and biscotti for dunking, and a baker sells walnut bread, raisin-carrot bread and scones--all baked that morning. Square dancers entertain shoppers with their foot-stomping, heel-kicking moves.

The mushroom grower and pasta maker work side by side, each helping to sell the other’s goods. The pasta maker dollops his spicy sauce onto his neighbor’s mushrooms and hands the makeshift appetizers to passersby, along with a recipe for a mushroom filling made with Italian salsa and cream cheese. One shopper, who was planning a party, tried the delicacy and exclaimed, “That’s it! I’m serving stuffed mushrooms!� The pasta man and the mushroom grower both made a sale.

At College of the Canyons on Valencia Boulevard at Rockwell Canyon Road (Parking Lot 8); (805) 529-6266. 8:30 a.m. to noon Sundays.