Amish are known to be avid birders. As an outdoors activity you can do with family, I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise. This might be the wrong analogy, but I’ve always imagined it as hunting without the guns. I don’t have any statistics but it seems like it is particularly popular among Amish in Ohio. There is even an Amish Bird Symposium next…
Wrapping up a week in which it seems I can’t stop talking about Amish food (Amish bulk food stores, Amish canning, Amish maple syrup) I was happily surprised to find a new article on Indiana Amish food markets in the Chicago Tribune (see Indiana Amish food markets). When I hear “Amish markets” I tend to think of the PA Dutch farmers’ markets you see in…
Tom continues his New York Amish coverage with some photos of an Amish maple syrup operation in the Randolph, NY area (Conewango Valley Amish community). Says Tom: “I have been in the sugar shack when Eli’s kids and grands are watching and the women are making pancakes and drawing hot syrup out of the pan to pour on the pancakes. The hard work does…
The area of Hicksville, Ohio (Defiance County, is home to an Amish community of just one congregation in size. What makes it interesting is that it is also quite old, being founded in 1914 (making it the 3rd or 4th-oldest Ohio Amish community). Amish settlements come and go. There are over 400 Amish communities today. But there have probably been 150+ which were founded and…
Canning is an important part of the Amish home economy. Sprawling gardens provide a wide range of produce for Amish families. Canning helps keep Amish in fruits and vegetables throughout the winter. Amish also can some meats. Today Tom shares some photos from an Amish basement, also in the Jasper, New York Amish community. This is from the basement of a family with…
Kauffman’s Bulk Foods 3215 Five Corners Road Jasper, NY 14855 Inside an Amish Bulk Foods Store Tom shares some photos today from an Amish bulk foods store in the Jasper, New York Amish community (about 90 minutes south of Rochester). Horses go here. Tom observes: “It is interesting when I go to Kauffman’s there are more English folks than Amish shopping. Jasper is a rural…
Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil apparently saw his shadow this morning, so batten down the hatches for another 6 weeks of chilly weather. This annual tradition has a couple of connections to the Penn. Dutch. First, there happens to be a sizable Amish settlement in Clearfield County in the vicinity of Punxsutawney, PA (1,000+ people). I don’t know of any groundhog-related customs associated with this…
I found myself thinking about this after reading an article about an Idaho family. Originally running in the Lewiston Tribune under the title “Amish family in Winchester finds its way” (and elsewhere as “N. Idaho Amish family embraces modern ways”), the article contains the following description: In many ways the Miller family is as Amish as the people they left back home in Wisconsin 10…
An ancient Anabaptist hymnal The Ausbund is a very important book for the Amish. This hymnal contains centuries-old songs originating with Anabaptist captives held at the Oberhaus castle prison in Passau, located in present-day southeastern Germany. Amishman Benuel Blank wrote The Amazing Story of the Ausbund about this remarkable songbook. About the Ausbund Blank writes: The Ausbund hymnbook, used by the early Anabaptist Swiss Brethren, is…
In yesterday’s interview, Saloma mentioned an upcoming PBS special on the Amish, part of the American Experience series. American Experience has a good reputation for in-depth documentary films, mainly of a historical nature. “The Amish” is a 2-hour film described as “an extraordinarily intimate portrait of contemporary Amish faith and life”. Quite a few Amish participated as well as numerous experts on the Amish….