Let's go to a Pennsylvania Farmers Market! Quiz

Answer: The Bird-In-Hand Bake Shop

Of course you won't find a Dunkin Donuts or a Krispy Kreme at a good Pennsylvania farmers market! The Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop's main location is in, you guessed it -- the nearby town of Bird-in-Hand. They make a darn good vanilla creme donut. There's a bakery stand at Root's called Mary Jane's, but to get a donut from Mary Anne's, you'd have to visit Allentown, PA -- try her bakery stand at the Fairgounds Farmers Market.

Answer: A set of Amish-style clothes for Barbie Dolls

Although you can find all of these at Root's Market (the dandelion greens only in the springtime), the only one of these suitable for a young girl AND shipping a long distance would be the doll clothing. There's a stand at Root's that sells dolls and doll clothes, and they specialize in Amish-style dolls and accessories.
Pennsylvania Dutch Chow-Chow, sometimes called "End-of-the-Season Relish" is a sweet-and sour assortment of vegetables and beans.

Answer: Kentucky Fried Chicken

You can buy live and dead chickens at Root's, and you will see poultry prepared for eating in many ways, but you won't find any chain or franchised restaurants there. By the way, chicken pot pie isn't like the pastry-topped pot pie in many a supermarket freezer -- it's basically a good, hearty chicken soup with large square egg noodles in it... mmmm, comfort food at its best!

Answer: A hand-twisted soft pretzel

These pretzels are yummy! They have regular old-fashioned salted soft pretzels, and also the buttery kind popularized by Auntie Anne's. For pierogi pizza you'll need to go to western Pennsylvania. Toasted ravioli, served mostly in the St. Louis, Missouri area, hasn't made much of a dent in Pennsylvanian's eating habits. The succotash turnover doesn't exist.

Answer: Stuff it with sausage and potatoes and call it "Hog Maw"

Several of the butcher shops at the farmers market offer pig stomachs, either stuffed and ready to cook, or unstuffed so you can prepare your own filling. "Hog Maw" is the Pennsylvania Dutch term for stuffed pig stomach. I am pretty sure "Sugar-Pig" and "Pennsylvania Dutch Sushi" don't exist.

Answer: It's prepared right there in the booth by the man and woman

After the corn is popped, it's mixed with the caramel in a huge copper kettle. The man stirs it laboriously with a large wooden paddle, and it smells so good! There's often a line of people waiting to buy a bag. Their business card claims the company has been in business since 1925.

The fascinating sight of this small enterprise is about as opposite of a Wal-Mart as a U.S. business can be.

Answer: All of these

There are reportedly over 200 stand-holders at Root's, so it was tough to narrow down the choices for this question. Yes, you can buy a dead baby pigeon, which is politely referred to as "squab". Often when I am at Root's, I feel as though I am walking through the pages of a National Geographic article.

There are countless vignettes of people, products, and animals, coupled with a sense of timeless continuity, and it makes me wish I were a better writer and photographer!

Answer: Pony

The noisy and pungent animal auction building has all sorts of small animals squeaking, crowing and bleating, as well as many cowering quietly in their cages, wondering why they are there. The largest of the bunch are the sheep and goats. If it's an auctioned horse or pony you're wanting, try the New Holland Sales Stables on another day. Most of the other farmers markets I've been to in Pennsylvania do not have animal auctions, although one used to have a weekly dog auction. Plant and produce auctions are common, as well as auctions of miscellaneous "stuff".

Answer: A large indoor/outdoor flea market

From six a.m. every Tuesday, (and the first Saturday of most months) you will find approximately 175 vendors selling the usual flea market items -- antiques, collectibles, junk, athletic socks, and sometimes... maybe... that very special treasure you'd been hoping to find! Many of the farmers markets in Pennsylvania have an adjacent flea market if they have enough space. If you want to visit a museum of PA German culture, there are several in the area -- one is in downtown Lancaster (with free admission, kindly docents, and a nice gift shop), and another is the Landis Valley Museum - run by the state, it's a sprawling collection of farm buildings and exhibits that educate visitors about farm life in the area from 1740 through 1940.

Answer: The Green Dragon on Friday

Lancaster County has the most fertile non-irrigated cropland in the country, and there are at least four sizable farmer's markets in the county. Also, numerous roadside stands offer fresh produce, pastries, and crafts. Most Farmers Markets in Pennsylvania are open only one or two days per week, enabling vendors to sell their wares at multiple locations, if they wish.

The Green Dragon, near Ephrata, is another large, rambling farmer's market open only on Fridays. Root's is open on Tuesdays only, although the flea market is also open on the first Saturday of most months. Shady Maple is a complex in East Earl with a large grocery store and a vast smorgasboard, but it's not a farmer's market. Like many businesses in Lancaster County, Shady Maple is closed on Sundays. Wal-Marts have proliferated in Lancaster County, but we shall ignore them on this trip.