Owl Creek Produce Auction

On Monday, Keith took us to the Owl Creek Produce Auction...

Screenshot on my phone of where we went

The auction was very interesting! Produce farmers bring their wares to sell -

... they are sold in lots... - some, like these tomatoes, might be sold in a number of flats - like maybe the price you are bidding is per flat, and you must take at least 5, but you could take all 10.

For the pumpkins and gourds, the bid was per item, and the number of the items in the bin was disclosed before the bidding began - so you might be bidding on 43 pumpkins, or 102 decorative gourds!

It seemed to me that the prices were cheap (like $1.50-$3 for the pumpkins), but I guess the buyers are possibly then reselling them (either directly, like a grocery store, or indirectly, like a landscaper who might include them in a decorative landscape) and need to make a profit.

These two were enjoying their devices while the auction was going on!

Indian corn, Potatoes, Peppers, green beans...

Another view of the peppers - they were sold in 3-box sets - the lady next to me won the bid and she wanted 3 boxes of jalapenos. The next highest bidder was offered the option of taking what she wanted at the price that the winner had paid (she took 6 boxes of sweet peppers), and then I think they auctioned another set of 3 and that winner took the 6 boxes that were left.

The lady there in the blue jacket was the recorder of item numbers, bid amount, and winning bidder number. The guy in the white hat and white plaid shirt would announce what the item was and the quantity that you were bidding on.

There were these small decorative straw bales too - they were wrapped two together (some were wrapped 6 together). The lady who purchased the jalapenos asked me what they would be useful for and I gave my opinion that they were decorative - she thought they would be too small to be decorative, but I suggested that they might be used on table tops and she agreed that could be correct. (Why she thought I would have any clue, I don't know!!!)

I wondered if there are miniature hay balers that make these. They seemed to be tied with wire instead of twine.  Google search to the rescue: http://www.minibaler.com/
"...profit margins of 1000%-2000% percent over traditional bales..." - wow!!!
I don't recall what the bales sold for at the auction...

Some cauliflower and decorative gourds just beyond them. You might be able to see eggplant just between the straw bale and the cauliflower.

These had been sold before we got there (they were awaiting pick-up I think - maybe the winning bidder was still bidding on other items) - aren't they neat looking?

There were two auctions going on at the same time when we first got there - a flower auction and the produce auction - the mums were being sold in groups of 4 (at least the ones we saw sold) and were reaching bids of $3-$4.

Mums about ready to burst into bloom!

It appeared that many of the producers were Amish - this was a picture of one of the wagons that they had used to bring their produce - he was collecting the large boxes to take back home for re-use I guess.

It was quite an interesting event to watch!