Covered Wagon Market means fudge is back

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By Doug Page, Staff Writer 3:29 PM Thursday, May 14, 2009

UNION — The fudge is back.

For six years, until they closed their market last November, Pam and Randy Yoakum sold the delicacy, made on site. Luckily for area residents with a sweet tooth, when they sold the building at 607 N. Main, they also sold the fudge machine to the new owners.

Now, Dan and Rachel Garber of Greenville, along with their six children and extended family, are cranking out the fudge.

The Covered Wagon Market opened last week to sell fresh local fruits and vegetables, Amish goods, butter and cheese from Holmes County, homemade pies and cookies, and, of course, the fudge.

The vegetables will come from the family farm outside of Greenville; the fruits from local orchards. All arranged on covered wagon-like counters built by Dan Garber and his children.

“I’ve raised vegetables all my life, except for nine months when I laid concrete,” Dan Garber said.

Fresh strawberries will be in stock by the end of the month. Sweet corn will start to arrive around early to mid-July. Cabbage, squash, carrots, etc. will show up when ready.

“It’s all hand-picked,” he said, likely by his children, ages 17 to 5.

Nena, the youngest, was on hand last week to help with the pies, assist customers and keep mom, dad, grandmother and other family members in line. Three generations worked at the pie station, rolling out dough. Nena’s job was to water the dough.

“My mom, Janice, is the pie baker. She taught me when I was Nena’s age,” Rachel Garber said. When asked of her baking accomplishments, Nena played shy until her mother answered, “Nena makes peach pies for daddy.”

The women turn out nearly 200 single-serving pies a week. Plus, apple dumplings and cookies of all stripe and shape.

“The molasses cookies are the big sellers, so far,” Rachel Garber said.

In addition to the produce, baked goods, assorted candies, jams, jellies, sauces, broths and noodles, the market offers garden supplies, flowers, seed potatoes and onion sets. The older children are responsible for seeing the flowers are watered and the bags of mulch are precisely stacked.

The fudge? “The fudge machine came with the building, and we’ve put it to good use,” Dan Garber said.