BARBERVILLE - Talk about visual overload.

David Biggers has taken rubber-necking to another level.

Passing motorists occasionally slam on their brakes and dive into one of the few parking places available when they eyeball the eclectic outdoor showroom at Barberville Produce, which is a bit of a misnomer.

Biggers' business is closer to a huge yard sale with an emphasis on wrought-iron and cast-aluminum lawn ornaments.

Located at State Road 40 and U.S. 17, 22 miles west of Ormond Beach, the 3-acre business he runs with his wife, Christa, has enough stuff scattered around to stake a legitimate claim to being a roadside tourist attraction.

Take the wrought-iron mariachis.

They're frozen in mid-song and sticker priced at $100 to $175.

But that's small change compared to the 6-foot bison ($2,800), 16-foot four-faced clock towers ($4,500) and, well, if you think of it you might find it somewhere in the wreckage.

``Looks like Sanford & Son, doesn't it?'' Biggers asks, not waiting for an answer.

For the record, you can buy oranges, grapefruit and tomatoes here. That's what the former owner sold.

But when Biggers bought it in 1989, he decided to shake things up a little.

``You'll starve to death selling produce,'' he believes.

``You're working for nickels and dimes.''

A New Beginning

Biggers' customers range from tourists to 18 wholesalers as far away as Tennessee.

``I sell with my mouth,'' he says. ``That's how I made my living all my life.''

His golden rule: ``Don't buy what you like or you'll die owning it.

``Listen to what people want.''

Turns out some of them want things not found on most street corners.

Consider the 8-foot Statue of Liberty that can be used as a street or yard lamp ($900).

Like most of his cast-aluminum merchandise, it's made elsewhere and painted on a lot he leases across the street.

He also carries carved wood products, such as Don Quixotes ($325) and rocking horses ($575).

``I even got a chastity belt,'' Biggers adds.

``Not too many people in town sell them.''

Linda Shaw, an Ormond Beach visitor, had her eye on something a little more imposing.

She stopped to consider a life-size, cast-aluminum moose.

``If I could fit it in my SUV it might keep the real ones out of my back yard'' near Ottawa, Ontario, she mused.

Instead, she settled for an easier-to-pack sack of oranges.

The Family's Roots

Biggers, 61, was born just up the road in Palatka.

In 1947, his father opened a honey stand on Highway 100 in nearby San Mateo.

Biggers runs the stand now, also selling syrup, jelly and peanuts.

The 1-, 2- and 5-pound jars of honey go for $4.75 to $14.75 each.

Business is good enough that he goes through more than three dozen 680-pound drums of honey a year.

But here's the interesting part.

It's sold on the honor system.

No one works at the stand.

``It works well,'' he says.

``The American people are honest. Well, 97 percent are and the other 3 percent ain't gonna steal honey.''

Actually, he concedes, a few do.

``But if you put somebody out there at minimum wage you lose more than you do to the thieves.''

Reporter Jim Tunstall can be reached at (352) 628-5558.