Shetler’s Country Market is located at 19404 Steubenville Pike Road, Hammondsville. The store’s hours are: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday.( Photo by Evan Houk)

HAMMONDSVILLE — Shetler’s Country Market will host a third anniversary sale June 10-15 to coincide with the strawberry bloom and the traditional kick-off to the Amish family’s summer growing season.

“That’s the kick-off of produce for us,” owner David Shetler said Tuesday.

The strawberries are currently blooming, not bearing yet, but usually fruit around Memorial Day, he said. After that, the green beans, cucumbers, sweet corn, melons, peppers, and the best-selling tomato, will start to crop up on the farm through the summer, harvested fresh for the market. In the fall, the farm will offer pumpkins and mums.

“The tomatoes generate as much excitement as anything,” Shetler said.

During the sale, everything in the store will be 10% off and strawberry pie will be the featured item all week. Pies are available for special order anytime.

The small store has a deli featuring fresh-sliced meat and sandwiches, fresh chicken, baked goods, bulk baking supplies like donut flour, snacks, frozen foods, basic home goods, canned produce, spices, fresh lettuce, butter, non homogenized milk, jellies and jams, and more.

A dozen farm-fresh brown eggs cost $2.75, a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies went for $3.50, and a 1.6-pound bag of roasted and salted cashews was $10.

Shetler’s Country Market is tucked away along a backcountry road on the other side of the Scottish settlement of Highlandtown, formerly known as Inverness, and the popular Highlandtown Lake. The small wooden structure provides a one-stop shop for customers in the nearby villages of Wellsville and Salineville, as well as those from the Calcutta area and Lisbon.

Shetler, who started the business three years ago, said he is looking to possibly expand into a larger space within the next few years to accommodate the growing business at the farm market.

“It’s a lot more crowded now than it was at the start,” he said.

The store sits on Shetler and his wife Ruby’s vast farmland, which they maintain with their eight children.

On Tuesday, the Shetlers and some of their children were busy weeding the strawberry field, preparing for the coming harvest.

“We talked about having a sign: ‘free weeds, pick-your-own,'” Shetler said with a laugh.

The store also hosts a monthly bake sale with the next one happening this Saturday.

Shetler said he originally came from Carroll County. He and five other Amish families purchased about 200 acres of land through a public auction in order to farm it in 2020. In Carroll County, with the large Amish community, each family only had about a two-acre plot of land, not enough to do much with, Shetler said.

“We have farming in our roots, but we didn’t really have a lot of options to do anything with farming,” Shetler said. “So, more land at cheaper rates.”

There are 13 Amish families in the area and several Amish businesses, like the Pike Road Petals Greenhouse down the road from Shetler’s Market.

All the families are part of the same church, which rotates between each family’s home.

“We call it a bench-wagon that we take around. There’s wooden benches on it. And then we just make room, set up the benches, and have church in our homes,” Shetler said.

Shetler’s Country Market is located at 19404 Steubenville Pike Road, Hammondsville. The store’s hours are: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday.