Visiting An Amish “Food-and-More” Store (30 Photos)

I dropped in on the Charlotte County, Virginia Amish community just before Christmas. I’ve been visiting this one since there were just a relative handful of Amish here.

As the community has slowly grown over the years, the number of Amish-run stores here seems to be slowly increasing as well. One of the places I visited is called Country Corner Dairy.

It’s one of the easier Amish places to find in this community. That’s because unlike some other stores there, it is clearly marked by signs and even in Google Maps.

As I arrived just a bit before closing time, I noticed these buggies parked outside the store. You can see this is the Lancaster style gray-topped variety. The Amish here come from a community in St. Mary’s County, Maryland – which itself originated from Lancaster County.

Country Corner is called a “cheese factory” on the one sign above – but what I visited was more of a general “food-and-more” store. As you’ll see in these photos.

The place was open on December 23 when I visited. As you can see by this sign, it is, as you’d expect, closed on Christmas and New Year’s, but also on Second Christmas (Dec. 26).

Let’s have a look inside and see what we can find.

Inside Country Corner Dairy

Though it’s called “Dairy”, you’re going to find a lot more than just dairy products.

You’ll find an array of canned goods and other foods, crafts, and even some bent-and-dent items in the store.

A quick aside – as you can see in this photo and others, there is what looks like a large square “light” in the ceiling:

This is actually sunlight, nothing generated by electricity. These skylights are a common way of lighting Amish stores.

If you look at the exterior images of the buildings above, you’ll see several light intakes on the roof.

Looking around the store, we come across a nice collection of local jams and jellies.

Including one kind I don’t recall seeing in an Amish store…

…that would be this Peach Jalapeno Jam. A jar of this became a Christmas present for my brother.

Here’s another photo of the jar, showing how aesthetically pleasing it is:

I’m not sure if it tastes as good as it looks. But I’ll check with bro and see what he thinks (and how much “heat” the jar contains).

There is of course an extensive dairy section, with cheeses, milk, yogurts and more.

The Skyr yogurt selection. Skyr is an Icelandic-style yogurt which, according to Wikipedia, “has the consistency of strained yogurt, but a milder flavor.”

Sweet Lebanon Bologna. I don’t eat much regular bologna but am a fan of the sweet Lebanon variety. This stuff makes a nice sandwich.

Like a lot of Amish market stores, in addition to their own products, they fill out their offering with items from large “Amish-style” producers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. For instance, Walnut Creek foods.

Baby Beets also by Walnut Creek.

Along the same lines, Mrs. Miller’s noodles:

Talking to the owner

I spoke with owner Aaron Fisher, a friendly youngish to middle-aged Amish man, who explained that he and three other local farmers opened the store in 2023.

In addition to what we found in the store, they also have baked goods available (on Fridays and Saturdays) as well as made-to-order.

Unfortunately, there were no baked items at the time of my visit, as alas, it was a Monday. If you know me and my Amish food preferences by now, this was a painful discovery. But I got through it.

They did have some homemade sweets though, like these chocolate and peanut butter treats:

They also carry a maple syrup out of New York, in several sizes, including gallon and half-gallon.

Interested in the address on the label, I asked Aaron if they were “back-and-forth” with the Lowville Amish. He said yes.

“Back-and-forth” is a term the Amish use meaning that one church or community is in fellowship with another. You can ask an Amish person that, if you’re wondering if they’ve got a formal connection with a given community.

These relationships can span great distances, as we see in this upstate New York-Virginia example.

Another interesting thing, I pronounced the town as you would the word “low”…but it came out of Aaron’s mouth differently – more like “Lahwville”.

Is that the way they say it up there? Or was that a dab of Amish Southern accent throwing me for a loop? I left it a mystery for the time being.

In any case, as you browse products in Amish stores, it’s worth noting where they come from. Their origins can often indicate that the community you’re in has a church relationship with the source community.

Non-edibles

The store also has a number of non-edible products. For instance, some handmade baskets, and scarves and other items:

You’ve also got some baby quilts, and small furniture and wooden decor items.

A closer look at those baby quilts.

The way out.

Visit Country Corner Dairy

I was quite happy to find this store. It’s not going to knock your socks off – it’s decent-sized, but not huge – and doesn’t have a deli (and made-to-order sandwiches) like other Virginia Amish markets, such as the Walker Valley Market (Pearisburg), or the nearby Pineview Bulk Food and Deli (Farmville).

But it’s a nice friendly store with good products at what seem to be reasonable prices. And the baked goods I would bet are good (I’m going to have to time my visit for the weekend next time).

So if you’d like to visit the store, here’s what you need to know as far as the hours and address:

Country Corner Dairy
3005 County Line Road
Cullen, VA 23934

Monday-Friday: 8AM to 4PM
Saturday: 8AM to 3PM
Sunday: Closed

Baked Goods on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you do go to Country Corner, tell them you heard about the place from Erik from Raleigh, there’s a chance Aaron might remember 🙂 And let us know what you think here.