For reasons that are beyond him, John Lewis just can't seem to sell greasy beans.

"No, they're really good," Lewis said. "But you can't get people to buy them around here. But you take them into Pike County, Kentucky, or North Carolina, Tennessee, people love them."

Lucky for Lewis' son Aaron (the owner of the produce stand, five miles north of Proctorville on State Route 7) other crops such as tomatoes are selling much more briskly than the unfortunately named legumes.

On Sunday, the Lewis men had broken with a tradition of not being open on Sunday in order to pick and sort some new offerings for the stand, operating out of Aaron's converted garage.

Although this year's crop was substantial, it was a tough year for farming, with high temperatures and low precipitation forcing Aaron to make ample use of irrigation with his "'maters."

Of course, tomatoes aren't the only thing for sale at the Athalia stand.

The half-runner beans did well this year, and a large clump of bright orange pumpkins are one of the first things to greet visitors. But the elder Lewis said that's largely because they aren't exactly hot sellers.

"So many people have pumpkins, you can go to every grocery store in the county, some gas stations, farmer's market, some doughnut shops, you name it," Lewis said. "Last year he had a lot, thousands of pumpkins, but this year he just planted a couple of acres. They just weren't a big deal."

A lot of their clientele isn't from the Athalia area, they have regular visitors from Ironton, Huntington, and even farther away.

"Sometimes people are just passing through, maybe from northern Ohio, they're just passing through, they'll see the sign and stop to buy some tomatoes," Lewis said. "We had one guy that stays in Florida during the winter, and he wants tomatoes to take to Florida with him."

Aaron Lewis also directs the Lawrence County Alternative School, so the days that his stand is open vary. Most just swing by and take their chances, though Saturdays are usually a sure bet, and he's frequently there throughout the week now too.

Much like the Floridian visitor, the stand is only around while it is still warm.

Aaron began selling his goods around the fourth of July, his father said, and will continue until the first frost.

The Dart is a weekly feature in which a reporter throws a dart at a map of Lawrence County and finds a story where it hits.