The Amish Auction: Pies, Pickles and More

Produce (and baked goods) auction, Mt. Hope, Ohio, September 1, 2010

I knew there would be lots of pie in the Ohio Amish country, where DH and I vacationed last week, but I didn't expect the opportunity to bid on homemade pies (and cakes, noodles, breads, pickles, honey, jam and more) at a real-life auction, one of several held weekly in the small towns that dot the countryside.

My auction number

Actually, I missed the opportunity because by the time I figured out how to get a number (more complicated than you might think), the auctioneer had finished selling all the homemade bounty and had moved on to auctioning boxes of fresh vegetables and pallets of eggs.  (The livestock auction was taking place simultaneously in a nearby barn.)

I love the idea of all these Amish and Mennonite women putting up pickles and jam, baking cakes and breads and then bringing them, usually via horse and buggy, to produce auctions, like this one (pictured top) in Mt. Hope, Ohio.

DH took this picture of women bringing their goods to auction.

Later that day, we went to a more general auction, and while waiting to get a number (pictured above), I saw a few Amish women entering zucchini bread and pies into the auction.  We waited a while to bid on some baked goods, but the auctioneer (watch the 12-second clip!) had a lot of carnival glass and antiques to go through before he moved on to the food.  A return trip is in order.