Amish Produce Auction

Last week we met up with some friends to try and pick up some fresh produce.  My friends had prior experience, so I let them do the bidding and we split mass quantities of vegetables and fruit.  Out of respect, I didn't take my regular camera, but I did discreetly shoot some photos with my phone. 

The Amish hire an auctioneer that comes twice a week to help sell their produce.  There are several English that come as well to buy for themselves, or for market stands where they can turn a profit.  Even though they move at a very fast pace, the day we went the auction lasted four hours, but it has been known to go longer!

Our kids had lots of interested observers!  It's such a dichotomy to see these two worlds collide, yet at heart they are all just kids that love to play and interact.  Eventually, the kids did end up playing a bit together.  The Amish have always been very friendly to us when we've visited their area. 

 

Wagon after wagon would pull through and the auctioneer would rattle off their abundance of crops.....60 cantaloupe, 10 boxes of tomatoes, 30 watermelon, 10 dozen ears of corn, etc.
 

These smaller carts were sold last, as they were in much smaller quantity than what the wagons held.

We came home with 10 cantaloupe (35 cents each!), two boxes of tomatoes (that turned into 16 quarts, diced and frozen), a box of combined eggplant, green peppers and onions, and a box of acorn squash.  We also bought lunch there...homemade sandwiches, slices of homemade pie, and homemade ice cream.  All told we only spent about $25!  It was a fun experience, although it was also very hot at 105 degrees that day.  I hope to go back and get some more tomatoes as well as corn to freeze for this winter.  Oh, and I'll take another slice of fresh peach pie!  Yummo!