I’ve never seen so many lovely veggies in one place. Not knowing there was a vegetable haven, I was delighted to find this one.

The vegetables arrive in horse drawn carriages from the Amish County in the area of Belmont County, Ohio.

We didn’t get to see them arrive, but did get to see some of the veggies still loaded on the wagons, just in from their farms.

Our first view looked like a painting that could have been done by Norma Rockwell: horses with their wagons or buggies still attached, standing under many shade tress.

We were on a mission to find The Captina Auction. The auction is held every Tuesday and Friday from June through the fall growing season, usually the end of October.

It is located in Somerton on State Route 148-12 miles north of Woodsfield or seven miles south of Barnesville, Ohio.

This vegetable auction is in its fourth year. Auction Manager Aden Yoder of Woodsfield said it was started to help out the local Amish farmers.

Vendors of fruit and vegetables markets, stands, and restaurants come to the auction to buy huge lots of the veggies and fruits. These big lots, and to my eyes, they were big lots start selling at 10 a.m.

There are pallets lined from one side of the open shelter to the other stacked high with the vegetables brought in by the Amish farmers.

Most of these had been harvested just that morning. Most of the lots of corn, tomatoes, peppers, and almost any kind of vegetable you’ve heard of are in large lots. Perhaps six to 10 dozen ears of corn. Other vegetables are either in net bags or boxes.

The Amish people help with moving the veggies to trucks, to the purchasers. Young Amish men were helping by pushing carts with wheels loaded with the items to be placed on the buyer’s trucks. Many of the young men kind of pushed like a scooter, peddling with one foot. I did see many a smile on these young men’s faces.

After these large lots of veggies and fruits were sold, the auctioneer moved on to the end of the shelter. There were smaller lots of items to be sold to people like me. I bid on boxes of tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplants, and some other of my favorite vegetables.

The prices were very low and they were fresher than I had tasted in a very long time.

I found the Amish people to be very friendly and helpful. I found their veggies and fruits to be fresh enough that it seemed they could have still been growing in their gardens.

If you want to go on an interesting day trip, find wonderful food that fits your budget, talk and visit with amazingly friendly people, take a trip to the Captina Produce Auction. You might just find some wonderful Amish baked goods too.