Polk's Market in Medora

Polk's Market in Medora, Kansas, is an old fashioned fruit and vegetable market. It's run by Pam and Earl, who met 44 years ago while working in the Dillon's Apple Packing Department.

Earl said Ray Dillon taught him a lot about merchandising and groomed him to work at Dillons. But, Earl couldn't stand being inside so he followed in his grandfather's footsteps. His grandfather ran "River Banks" market on 30th Street in Hutchinson for many years.

Polk's has fresh fruit and vegetables - mostly from Kansas. They also sell some nuts and candies. And... one of my favorite things... apple cider slushies.



Earl says they sell more apples in slushies than any other way these days. He said 50 years ago his grandfather would sell tons more apples than he does today - partly that's because he is competing with the big stores, but it's also because people just don't eat as much fresh produce as they once did.

This time of year, Polk's is well stocked with pumpkins and gourds, of course. And he says those sell much better than they used to. He said 25 years ago he would sell about 100 pumpkins during the season, now he sells close to 4,000.



Polk's is a great little place. Earl says they try to give you the feeling of going back in time 50 years - much like his grandfather's place was.



Occasionally you find a pumpkin that has a little something extra - a little bit of wisdom tossed in.



In case you can't make it all out, it says "Life is like a Pumpkin Patch. You never know what you'll get."

I guess that would fall into the category of life truths.