In many towns the market opens well before six in the morning, and the first hour is the one that matters. Farmers arrive with vegetables that were picked the previous afternoon, while restaurant cooks come early precisely because the earliest arrivals have the freshest produce to offer. By nine o'clock the busiest period is over and the sellers begin packing away what remains. Shoppers who appear later in the morning still find something to buy, but the selection has narrowed considerably, and the most desirable items disappeared hours earlier.