We hadn’t been on a real Saturday fun day in a long
time. Just taking a ride in the countryside. I wanted to
see if the veggie stand was open this year or not. I was
shocked to see it all closed up and no signs up at all.
This was the first time at the end of July it hasn’t been
open. The field was full of produce but maybe it was no
longer profitable to stay open in summer. Maybe we will
check back later and see. We ended up taking a ride to
my Dad’s old friend’s ice cream parlor. Ice cream is NOT
on mom’s diet but she can have a little. After getting
a treat we got back on the road and started back home.
We saw this sign for a market and decided to check it
out. I really wanted some tomatoes that tasted like
real home grown ones. (blotted out the name for reasons
that will be explained below)
The place looked nice enough.. I mean from the outside
it looked like a nice roadside market. INSIDE was another
story altogether. 
It was as large as a BARN.. all wooden shelving. Aisles of merchandise
that was mostly out of date. One room had produce but the rest of the
entire barn was full of discounted items from all sorts of places.I have been
told that they lock up the place in the winter and leave it. Can
you imagine that? I mean all that stuff to get …… well you get
what I am saying. It’s a food co-op and they get things from
all sorts of places. In the winter, they go to Florida and leave it
just sit there. 
Those boxes in the aisle are FULL of candy.. all candy bars and
etc open to pick and chose from. Boxes of cereal and etc stacked
to the ceiling. So, did I see any ahhhh BUGS.. well… yeah.. and
I saw several CATS wandering around too. Live mouse catchers
I assume. This place had four stories. You literally could climb to
the LOFT area and that is where the paper products were stored.
I was very careful where I put my hands that was for sure. I was looking
at some garbage bags when something started to itch. I looked and
low and behold I had a mosquito bite on my arm. Yes this was a pretty
open barn I would say. Some of the windows had screens, Other doors
were wide open to the breeze. They had fans going but I sure would NOT
want to be in that LOFT on a 90 degree day.
I did see this area of metal shelves under the stairway. Crackers
of every name imaginable. Sis and I were just amazed. Most
of this stuff was surplus and some really damaged. If you could find
something with a more recent date on it, it cost more than the
discount stores price. I kept wondering to myself, how they get away
with the fire, and safety and health codes in this place. Well I
didn’t buy much in there just looked around. I found out when I checked
out that this was a place that a lot of AMISH people frequented.
I thought they were pretty self-sufficient, guess not. I saw several horse
and buggies there and they were shopping as we were.
Did I find the tomatoes? YES.. they were delicious.. would I buy more..
yes.. they were okay. Would I buy .. Eggs, meat, cheese etc there..
NO. The coolers were really not all that safe looking and Sis was shocked
to see some items that looked semi frozen. The fruit was okay, but the
vegetables were shriveled from the heat.
Would we turn the place in
to the health dept or authorites.. hardly. They have advertised for years.
Nobody has hassled them to the point of closing. Do they rotate their
stock.. NO. Some items had dates as far back as 2006 on them,
We never had to go there in the past because the other market was open. This place
is 10 miles from our house, out in the countryside. You really have to make
your trip count. If I ever go again, I will make sure of the dates on things I
buy and take my hand gel,mosquito repellent, and kitty treats for the mousers. 
HOPE YOU ALL STAY COOL TODAY,
HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
