On our travels to and from New Jersey we have had many opportunities to see the Amish traveling in horse and buggies on the side roads near the interstate. It is always a pleasure to see them. What we never expected was to see a horse and buggy on highway 411 in Delano, Tennessee, about 17 miles from our home.
I asked a few people if I had been dreaming or was there an Amish Community locally. I was told not Amish, but Mennonites and they have a farm market. One day last fall we took a ride north on 411 and saw the simple sign, “Delano Community Farm Market“, so we the made the turn and followed the road. We also followed the horse droppings and knew we were heading in the right direction!
We pulled into a small parking lot that held a rather unassuming building. There were no other cars in the lot. What caught my attention was a small sign near the door that said, “please be properly dressed”. Since were properly dressed we went in and I was amazed at the produce and other products for sale. They had the biggest, most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen and that was in November! There must have been 10 varieties of tomatoes, selling for $1.50 a pound. There were a few dozen jars of home made strawberry preserves, the price marked down to a few dollars a jar. I only bought two and wished I had more when I tasted the jelly later at home. That was their last weekend of business for the season.
They obviously have no phone or electric so there is no computerized checkout. They have an old fashioned adding machine and they have the prices memorized. They keep the money is a drawer under the counter. No power also means no heat in the winter or A/C in the summer!
All winter we talked about the little Delano Community Farm Market, wondering when it would be open again. There is no way to call them obviously. Last week we took a ride hoping to see a sign indicating when they would open. To our great joy they were open for business and there were several cars in the parking lot. As we entered the store there was a quart container of strawberries on the counter with a sign “free”. I naturally took one and the flavor was unbelievable. It was the reddest, sweetest, most perfect strawberry I’ve eaten since my father stopped growing them. We bought two quarts at $3 each, well below the grocery store price. We bought tomatoes, purple lettuce, broccoli and white potatoes.
An example of their prices: Loose leaf lettuce that weighted well over two pounds was $1.25 a bunch. Tomatoes were $1.50 a pound. A three pound bag of cleaned broccoli was $2. You cannot touch the quality of the food in any store, yet alone for those prices. There were many types of jams and jellies. They had at least 8 varieties of peppers, home made sorghum cookies, peanut butter cookies and white bread.
We saw a sign indicating an “animal sale” to be held on May 30th. We wondered what kind of animals they would be selling and made a plan to go there on the 30th. Yes, to the Delano Community Farm Market for the animal sale. They had Community members directing traffic in and out of the parking lot. There was so much activity it was hard to keep up with.
We checked out the animals first. There were goats, pigs, chicken, roosters and an albino turkey. There were some horse and buggies for sale and one lone bull. He was young and the price tag on him was only $225, that’s a bargain. We didn’t see prices for the other animals. There were hand made feeding troughs and other animal related items, chicken feed and hand painted gourds.
We then ventured into the market and it was jam packed with people. I think the whole Mennonite Community was there waiting on customers. There were no more strawberries and I was disappointed. We walked around and I took some photos and low and behold I spotted 8 quarts of strawberries and I grabbed two of them! We didn’t go overboard after that, just some potatoes and a pint of blueberries for $3.75.
I asked the nice Mennonite gentleman who checked us out if he would give me more information about their Community. I told him I was a freelance writer for an outline company and that I was going to do a write-up on their market. They were very busy and I didn’t want to hold up the line, so he just told me the basics. They established that Community in October of 2002 and the following spring of 2003 they started the market. This winter they will remain open through December and will reopen in April.
I asked if I could take his photo and he said that would not be proper but I could take photos of the location. The last thing he said before moving to the next customers was, “Who do you write for?” I told him Associated Content and that people all over the United States would soon be reading about the Delano Community Farm Market – he smiled, nodded his head and said thank you.
If you are ever in my neck of the woods, near Cleveland, TN – make a point of going to Highway 411 in Delano and follow the signs to the Delano Community Farm Market. Ask anyone in the area for directions as the market is well known. You will be glad you did!
Source:
Personal experience
Mennonite Gentleman
