RALEIGH -- We all know goodness grows in North Carolina. This time of year, you can find it at hundreds of roadside produce stands across the state.

Nancy Hryn is a regular customer at Porter Farms’ roadside produce stand. “I'm from New Jersey, and we always had roadside stands produce,” she said. “I like the fresher fruits and vegetables.”

Even on rainy days, customers keep the Porter Farms stand busy. Shoppers like Donald Mulder prefer produce fresh from the farmer, instead of buying from a grocery store.

“They'll sell you like six ears for three bucks and you don't know where it's from,” Mulder said of grocery stores. “They'll sell you six ears here for $2.50 and you know where it's from and it's fresh and it's good.”

Crissy Porter, co-owner of Porter Farms and Nursery, said that’s the reputation they’ve been working so hard to establish.

“Our stuff is fresh,” she explained. “We grow it ourselves, we pick it that morning. We were picking in the rain this morning to make sure our product was out here and to make sure our customers had something good to choose from, and I don't think you'll have any grocery store produce manager out there doing that.”

There are nearly 400 roadside stands in North Carolina. But Porter Farms is just one of 102 stands certified by the Department of Agriculture. In order to qualify as a certified roadside farmer market, farmers have to grow at least 50 percent of everything they sell in the stand.

Ross Williams, Assistant Director of Marketing for the NC Department of Agriculture explained, “This lets the consumer know that it is a local product. It's grown right there in their area. It's a fresh, top quality product.”