Amish, A Trip to the Produce Auction

 

There is an Old Order Amish community about 50 miles from us in Ethridge, Tennessee. We just visited and purchased produce. When my boys were teenagers, I traveled there once a week to buy fresh milk, eggs and vegetables. It was hard to cook enough food to satisfy their ravenous appetites. 

There were some subtle changes in the community. Fewer families are raising crops.

Some have switched to milling wood.

Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the US and it is experiencing a massive housing boom. New apartments and houses are being built at record speed. The urban sprawl has sadly, reached us. Every single time we drive somewhere in any direction to go anywhere, we notice another new construction site. Hundreds of new houses are being built everywhere. We are about 50 miles south of Nashville and Ethridge is about 70 miles to the southwest. It puts them in a unique position to profit from the growth

It also means with less crops more people are vying to purchase what is available. We experienced sticker shock at the family operated roadside  produce stalls. The prices were often higher than Kroger's. Even though the Amish produce is fresher and better quality, I have to drive 50 miles and then go house to house seeking what I need. The long trip to the Amish isn't always worth the effort.

There is an auction that sells produce in bulk three times a week. The houses in that area still raise large crops. 

I attended the auction looking for bulk vegetables to can. (Picture taking was not allowed and if you tried to snap one, they would call you out over the loud speaker. Don't ask me how I know.) It was packed with commercial retail buyers in semi-trucks purchasing large pallets for restaurants and grocery stores. Money was no object - they had a quota to fill and the higher costs would be passed on to their customers. It was a blessing for the Amish sellers but difficult for the few families like me who were looking for deals. Last year a ten pound box of tomatoes sold for about $10, this year they were $25.  A highly prized box of Cherokee Purple tomatoes could easily reach $50.

The auction was held on a 95 degree day, in an un-airconditioned crowded shed with two auctioneers chanting on loud speakers at opposite ends simultaneously. I walked back and forth for hours going from one sale to the other and when the big buyers finally reached their quotas, I was able to swoop in and grab what was left. I got a mountain of yellow squash for $30!!!

I'm so happy! This makes up for all the failures due to squash vine borers destroying my plants. Never have I ever had more that 4 quarts of squash in my freezer at the end of the season! 

It was a labor of love working from sunrise to sunset blanching, freezing and canning. We have been eating it everyday and still haven't tired of it. It was worth all the work. 

Amish, My Adventures

Amish, Buying Milk

Amish, A Trip in the Rain

Amish, Under Coronavirus Lockdown

Yesterday, I ventured forth from self-isolation to make a trip to my local Amish community to purchase fresh milk, eggs, and tomato plants.   It has been three weeks since my last visit and the world is a different place now.

When I arrived at the milk house of the family where I have a standing order, the father of the family met me at a distance.  He explained how they are practicing social distancing and obeying the State of Tennessee's mandatory stay-at-home order.  No one in the tightknit community has become infected by the Chinese Coronavirus.  Even without modern communication, they knew what was happening.

He brought the full jars from the milk house as I opened the large ice chest in the trunk of my car.  I stepped away to make space so he could place the jars in the ice chest.  Normally, we stand side by side to avoid dropping the cold, wet glass jars.  From opposite sides of the car, we chatted for a few minutes.

There were no children running to peep into the chest to grab their favorite color popsicle.  No long conversations - just necessary business.  After the milk was loaded, I put the popsicles in a grocery bag to be disinfected before being touched by the children.

When paying cash for bedding plants at another home, my fingers accidentally touched the lady's hand.  Out came my hand sanitizer which I shared with her and then she shared how to disinfect cash by leaving it in the sunshine (cash is probably cleaner than touching the buttons on an atm anyway).  As we stood far apart inside her greenhouse, she wondered if the world will ever be normal again.  I replied, the last time the whole world was shutdown was during Noah's flood;  nothing was the same after it and it won't be the same now.  Hopefully, a few more people will survive this time.

As I was leaving, I drove the long way home, not being in a hurry to leave the quiet countryside.  There were no customers anywhere and all the men in the fields were working alone.

Everyone obeyed the social distancing rules except for one group: the pigs. They were snoozing in the dirt under a shade tree without a care in the world.

Our lives have been disrupted severely by the pandemic, but as for the Amish, their lives have hardly changed at all.

Amish, Buying Fresh Milk

Amish, Before and After the Drought

It rained yesterday!   We had over four inches (and still counting) of slow drizzling rain!  I declare the drought over!

Before the rain arrived, I griped, complained, and whined every second as I stood and watered my garden in the blazing heat.  However, there are those who suffered more than I.  My livelihood doesn't depend on my farm. This was my local Amish community earlier this summer right before the drought began.

One-room schoolhouse

Then the rains stopped and the drought began. It has been a month since I last visited.  The farmer from whom I purchase milk had a sick cow, the others were hardly producing so my orders were canceled until yesterday.  This is how the land looked. 

It was misting as I traveled and no one I met seemed to mind getting wet or standing in a puddle.  The rain was a welcomed relief.

We haven't had any frosts or even one cold night.  The devastation was caused by high temperatures and no rain.

This was a productive pumpkin field earlier.  Now it is barren except for weeds and an occasional lopsided pumpkin left to rot.

Their tomato plants looked as bad as mine.

Few houses were selling produce.  It was being kept to feed their big families. 

I suppose I can sigh and say what all gardeners say after a dismal season, "There is always next year."

Additional Links

Amish, My Adventures

Amish, Buying Fresh Milk
Amish, Summertime