If you're counting on completing your July Fourth feast with a hearty helping of Carolina corn, strawberries and blueberries from the State Farmers Market, you'd better get there early. Already, this year has been one of the busiest on record for the State Farmers Market, and the Fourth of July weekend is always the busiest of the summer.

"We had a really big weekend this past weekend, and it will be a big weekend next weekend," said Janice Holder, manager of the Pee Dee Orchards peach stand at the market. "We try not to sell out, but sometimes it just happens this way."

The Fourth of July crunch is coming during a year when attendance at the State Farmers Market may very well reach a record.

For the past few years, the number of visitors to the market has grown 10 percent to 15 percent a year, market manager Ronnie Best said. Officials count cars entering the market and base their estimates on 2.5 people a car. Using that formula, Best estimates that a record 3.5 million people visited the market last year.

This year, a record 54,222 visitors swamped the market on Mother's Day weekend, which is typically busy because of a rush on flowers, plants and other gift items.

That was followed closely by the weekend just past, when 47,554 people perused merchants' wares.

Best said he thinks the increase in traffic is directly related to the fact that people are cooking at home more and placing emphasis on local ingredients -- the "locavore" movement.

More farmers want to call the market home, too. This year, all 90 spaces for farmers are sold out. And in April and May, the farmers sold half-a-million dollars worth of strawberries alone.

"I think people are probably freezing and putting up more vegetables than they were last year," Best said. "I think there's all kinds of economic factors."

For consumers, one of the big factors at play is rising food prices. The cost of a dozen eggs has jumped 43 cents in the past year. Whole milk is up 50 cents a gallon.

Many people are turning to the State Farmers Market as an option for locally grown, cheap products. And, Best said, the laws of economics work with an immediacy not applicable at your local food store.

"Farmers like it, because they can actually ask what they want to get for" their products, he said. "But if you're charging $5 for corn and your neighbor starts charging $4, everyone comes down to $4 in a hurry."

With no sign that increased interest in the State Farmers Market will slow, officials are studying ways to improve the traffic flow and looking into building a bigger restroom area, Best said.

But none of that will happen in time for this year's extended Fourth of July weekend. Last Independence Day weekend, the market drew 46,995 visitors.

For now, Pee Dee Orchards manager Holder probably has the best advice: "Come on, and come early."

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.