Empty basket at the former Tomato Barn

[Mousetoescamper]

When I last visited the Tomato Barn in 2017, it was a thriving business with many employees and table upon table laden with many varieties of local tomatoes. Washington Borough, in Lancaster County, PA, is known for its tomatoes, grown in the rich soil of the Susquehanna River Valley. When I returned to the site earlier this month I found that the name had changed and the business had gone completely self-service, with a scales and an honor box but not a human in sight. There were only three long tables of tomatoes. I'm guessing the business never fully recovered from Covid.

[brer cat]

1. Did you get some or is the empty basket all there was?

It sounds like a place I would love to visit for great tomatoes.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. The empty antique basket was decorative. I bought a few of the overpriced tomatoes.

[Squaredeal]

3. I'm not surprised. Minimum wage in PA is only $7.25 an hour.

Maybe PA people can no longer work for this pittance and have found better paying jobs after Covid?

[Mousetoescamper]

4. Or the current owners found it more profitable to go the self-service route.

Whatever the reason, the business has diminished from when I last visited, both in terms of available produce and the human connection.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Your thread title says it all, and it's very sad.

The transformation from a busy, productive shop to one with no people to help and very few tomatoes to buy is simply sad.

However, I do love the empty decorative tomato box.

[Mousetoescamper]

6. We're both used to frequenting thriving farmers' markets. A market without people is sad indeed.

I'm glad you enjoyed the basket, though.