Summer is busy time for outdoor markets
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Esther Poss arranges the tomatoes at Red Barn Produce.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Along with the higher temperatures, another mainstay of summer - the produce stand - is now in full swing in Columbia County.
Almon Poss and his wife, Esther, the owners of Red Barn Produce at 5226 Wrightsboro Road in Grovetown, said the summer season is one of their busiest times of the year.
"People want to put up for the winter," said Poss, a Harlem resident, adding that his store, which also sells plants and patio furniture, opens its doors during the first week of March and closes in November. "We carry things people never heard of."
Poss said he sells items such as peas, butter beans, corn, cantaloupe, double-yoke eggs, fatback, ham hocks and more. But he said tomatoes, so far, are the hottest-selling item this year.
"Everybody wants tomatoes," he said. "They want ours because they are vine-ripe tomatoes."
Almon Poss relaxes in front of his business, Red Barn Produce, in Grovetown, on a hot afternoon while waiting for customers.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Poss said he has enjoyed running what he calls a "mom-and-pop shop'' for the past four years.
"It's just something to do, to keep me from getting old," he said.
Business for the barnyard faade, which is adorned with tropical plants, has been extremely good, he said.
"People like the atmosphere here," he said, mentioning that he tries to establish a rapport with his customers. "It's best to know the people by their name. We want them to feel like they're coming home instead of coming to a supermarket."
At Cee-Gees Open Air Market, at 150 Davis Road in Martinez, which opened March 15 and closes Oct. 31, customers also can get an array of fresh fruits, vegetables and other items.
Esther Poss opens her thermos bottle while waiting for customers at Red Barn Produce in Grovetown.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"Someone once asked me why don't we just enclose the building and make it air conditioned, but I told them that we don't want to lose that open-air market feeling," said co-owner Carol Holland.
Cee-Gees inventory includes cucumbers, watermelons, squash, green beans, butter beans, avocados, onions, blueberries, plants and patio furniture. Of that list, Holland and her husband, Gary said, tomatoes also are a top seller this year at their market.
When the Harlem couple first opened shop 14 years ago in a trailer attached to their truck, Holland said, they never imagined it would take off as well as it did.
"It's a dream come true," she said, adding that she and her husband started the business after they quit their jobs in an effort to spend more time with one another.
"In the beginning, we ran the market, but now, it's like the market is running us."
Jenny Smith, of Augusta, looks over the peaches available at Cee-Gees Open Air Market on Davis Road.
Photo by Quandra Collins
Still, she said, the business has allowed them to visit with customers.
"It's like we're all family here,'' Holland said. "The customers see me and my husband when we fight and when we get along. They get to see everything. It's because of our regular customers that we're still in business."