And I write “Middle of Nowhere” with affection, because I happen to be quite fond of many middle-of-nowhere places. But in reality, this is somewhere – specifically the Sandhills of Nebraska. Amish who appear to be a part of the Michigan Circle (that group has been showing up a good bit here lately) have started up a new settlement in the area of a town…
We learned about Mio, Michigan recently here as a part of the Michigan Circle Amish churches. Now in this photo set by Jim Halverson, a look inside an Amish bulk food store in the community – Country Corner Bulk Foods. This is one of a number of Mio-area businesses. As you can see by the map here, there are quite a few Amish businesses in…
An Indiana man who schemed Amish and Mennonite investors out of millions of dollars has been sentenced after being found guilty of fraud in May 2022. From WNDU: SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – A Goshen man has been sentenced to just over eight years in prison and has been ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution for his role in an investment fraud scheme….
“Don’t feel sorry for us, no,” John says with a chuckle. “We’re having a good life.” In this video I interview John Esh. John lives in Nittany Valley in central Pennsylvania and runs the Goot Essa cheese & food company. John sat down for a longer conversation with me a week or so ago. I’ll be posting that full video soon. But in the meantime,…
Back in 2019 we had a look at the Amish and hemp farming, a trend that emerged after Pennsylvania legalized hemp cultivation. Now four years later, a new piece at DailyMail.com looks at “the booming business of Amish cannabis farmers” with a visit to the retail location of Lancaster County Cannabis, owned by a 29-year-old Amishman who goes only by his last name in the story…
Right off the bat, this home has two things that stand out about it – its small size for an Amish home (1,192 square feet), and its fancy design. In fact, it reminds me of the style seen in the million-dollar Amish home we looked at last year. This home has a Garretsville, Ohio address. Garrettsville is in northern Portage County, which would make it…
I was happy to see that Goot Essa owner John Esh appeared on the “Seen Through A Glass” podcast recently to discuss his cheese & food business. John has a nice casual discussion with podcast host Lew Bryson. He explains how he came to cheese-making, and specifically European-style cheeses. In case you were wondering about the Amish and cheese, John notes that there is a…
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. You know when I manage to pause and think for a bit, I usually find there is a lot to be thankful for. I found Gloria Yoder’s words in her previous column inspiring on that matter. How do the Amish celebrate Thanksgiving? I’m reposting below the video I made last year on this occasion. You can also check out…
With the air crisp and the calendar about to leave October behind, I thought it would be a nice time to look back at fall-related posts we’ve featured here over the years. Check out these beautiful photos by Bill Coleman and others, a look at the Amish and Halloween, and more below. I hope you’re enjoying this autumn season – it has been absolutely beautiful…
Jim Halverson checks in with a photo set from a Swartzentruber Amish barn-raising. This took place back in the summer as should be obvious from these photos. If you missed it, we recently took a closer look at the Amish barn-raising via Burton Buller’s excellent film The Amish Barn-Raising Day. In it, we see footage of two separate barn-raisings (in Ohio and in Pennsylvania), done…
I made a return to YouTube videos this past week with a look at six Amish stories in the news recently. This is a newish format for me as far as videos go. In the video, I run through the stories and give you my take on each. You’ll see it’s a bit more conversational and casual. There’s a reason for that, which I explain….
One of my favorite things about looking at Amish homes is: there are almost always little details that stand out. This week’s home fits that bill, as it looks like it was an English-built…but then there is that classic blue Amish door frame hinting that this is not currently an English-owned place. I don’t know exactly what you call this style of home, but it’s…