Just about the time the edges of the corn leaves start to turn brown and the first maple leaves turn blaze orange in the treetops, the Amish children parade by morning and afternoon on their way to and from the one room school next door. They come from miles, and whistle and sing with their brothers and sisters as they ride. If you happen to meet them by the mailbox it is like a reunion with vigorous waves and greetings. I had to chuckle yesterday because I wondered where they keep all of their gear in that tiny two-seat rig when they are packed together for the ride. This has been an unusuall ..read more

                       The Amish Fire Insurance Policy   This last winter my oldest son got a volunteer fire call at 3am on a 10-degree morning. To everyone’s horror the call was to an Amish grocery store that was less than 2 weeks from its grand opening date. What you see in the top photo is all that was left when the fire was finally stopped. The building and its contents were a total loss. Three days later my wife and I decided to drive over to look at the destruction and to our amazement we instead discovered that the buildi ..read more

Ingredients: 2 cups of wheat flour 1 tsp. baking powder Pinch of salt 2 Tbsp butter or lard Sweet milk to make dough similar to biscuit dough 3 apples, tart is good - cored and peeled Instructions: In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in butter and add milk until the soft dough forms.  Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Roll out dough onto floured surface and place prepared apple. Fold the edges up around the apply to form a ball. Repeat the same instructions for the other 2 balls of dough and apple. Spray a 9" square pan with cooking spray ..read more

    When I received permission to advertise our little Almanac/Catalog in a few Amish Magazines it was initially hoped that a few Amish families who had no access to Internet, TV, or radio would benefit from having some literature that answered the questions our local Amish seemed to struggle with. Very soon after the first ad ran, we started to receive letter upon letter with greetings, stories of everyday life, and a smattering of new questions that they wished to have answered in future editions.    By the end of the 4th year I had pen pals in 26 states and Canada. At th ..read more

     When we first started serving our Amish neighbors we would overhear them talk of attending a ‘frolic’ at one or another’s house on a couple days almost every month. We were new to the area and hadn’t made many close friends so my wife and I would discuss how nice it would be to live amongst close friends who had these large gatherings called ‘frolics’. They spoke of them with great anticipation and joy. We didn’t want to seem nosy, or as if we were trying to invite ourselves to one of these ‘frolics’, so we didn’t ask any questions. We just secretly looked forward to a day ..read more

The Amish dog is as unique and gentle as its owner.  From the beginning of our time visiting Amish homes, we noticed how important early childhood contact with dogs and cats was within their culture.  Amish children, in most homes, start interacting with a small energetic dog and several ‘barn cats’ before they have taken their own first steps.  In this way, an Amish child will learn how to play with animals and, more importantly, get them to do things for and with them. They also learn that these farmyard animals are prone to accidents, often fatal, and that it is unwise to ant ..read more

When thinking of the Amish, the picture that comes to mind is a group of people who live a simple, slow paced life. This life is sustained by living off the fruits of the land, far away from urban pollution. Most would imagine them eating a steady diet of organically grown, healthy foods prepared on a wood fired stove, just like great grandma and grandpa did it.  Think again! Instead, imagine standing in your kitchen preparing for tonight’s family dinner. It is the dead of winter, long after that last tomato ripened on the vine, or the last potato has decided to s ..read more

 The Worldwide Amish Church is Not a Monolithic Culture What Does This Mean? First, the “Amish Church” has fractured throughout the centuries into many distinct Amish churches known today as “orders.”  Each of these Amish subcultures possess their own social templates known as the Ordnung.  Even the Ordnung within a single church order is constantly shifting and reformulating itself.  Individual families, which attend the same church district, may think and act in a variety of ways that can end at odds with one another.  As much as the Amish sometimes appear to disagree am ..read more

Myth: They don’t pay taxes. Fact: They pay federal, state, and property taxes just like the rest of us. In fact, they refuse to take many of the loophole deductions that most American households exploit because they view them as a hand out from the government. The only tax they do not pay is social security tax, but they don’t collect social security or Medicare benefits either, so they are likewise no burden on that failing ‘Ponzi scheme’. Myth: Most Amish youth wish to leave their Church. Fact: Most Old Order Amish settlements around the country are growing so fast that the greatest cha ..read more

Five Activities That Replace TV and Internet in an Amish Home. They read! The average Amish home, out of the hundreds we are familiar with, has a large selection of books and ‘family friendly’ magazines. These are mostly Christian themed but we observed a good variety of classics and informational texts. The most noticeable of all was the family Bible next to father’s chair, well worn in most cases. They work together tending to their animals and garden, for fun and utility, as a family unit. Many times we have been at their homes in the late afternoon and heard a family chorus rising from t ..read more