My aunt and uncle had the perfect little roadside stand. It was as near picture perfect as a roadside produce stand can be. I thought it was quite a shame they would use what would have made a lovely playhouse for selling fruits and vegetables and occasional baked goods.
My cousins and I were instructed to stay out of it unless an adult accompanied us to it, so I only dreamed of playhouse possibilities from a distance.
We moved to Pennsylvania a year or so later, and my parents planted several acres of strawberries and sweetcorn to sell. Now it was out turn to be taking care of a roadside stand. Only we didn't have a nice little building for it. Instead we used a folding table and put it under our big chestnut tree in the front yard to display any extra produce we had to sell.
Grandma would come to help on our busiest strawberry picking days. We would bring her buckets of freshly picked berries. She would sort them into little quart sized baskets. Nice big ones would sell for one price, and smaller and oddly shaped ones were sold as jam berries for cheaper. She took care of any customers that stopped in as she sat there sorting berries. I was sure it would be much more fun keeping her company in the shade instead of having to pick berries with the hot sun shining on my tired back. But my help was needed in the strawberry patch.
We had a roadside stand for a number of years until Dad's woodworking business grew large enough that we no longer had the time it took to grow and sell a lot of produce. I don't think any of us missed all that work, but we did miss the friends we made who had been regulars at our little stand beside the road.
Those are special memories . My Mother grew and sold raspberries for many years. I recall those long hours of picking, from early morning till noon. She insisted it had to be done by noon.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have many roadside stand around here but when my daughter lived in Maryland I went to several with her. I can only imagine the work it takes to grow all of that fruit and the vegetables too. It's so much better than what is in the grocery store though.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
Ahh, I love reading memories of your childhood... This is a lovely one. ♥ I have always thought it would be lovely to have a roadside stand - such a delightful way to meet new people and sell surplus produce.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed Wednesday!
One thing I miss since our move to the Island is a roadside stand for summer fruits and veg. We moved here from Lincolnshire which had plenty of stalls along the roadside. LOvely memories.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle in Missouri had a road side stand for his produce. He used to sit at the stand and weight out the tomatoes for the ladies. After a number of years he stopped personally sitting at the stand and put a box with a lock on it. One day he happened to be at the stand when some ladies stopped. They told him they really missed him personally being at the stand. Mainly because when they weighed their own produce they calculated down to the ounce how much they owed him. When he was sitting at the stand weighing produce he would charge them an even pound, and "throw in" the ounces. LOL
ReplyDeleteAnother lovely childhood memory. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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