Author: Erik Wesner

Erik Wesner is the creator of amishamerica.com, and author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look At Why Amish Businesses Thrive. Erik began visiting Amish communities in 2004 – eventually meeting thousands of Amish families while selling books.

He began writing about the Amish on this website in 2006, and is often cited in national media, including USA Today, The New York Times, and others on a wide range of Amish topics. A native of North Carolina, Erik has visited dozens of Amish communities across the country, and loves spending time with Amish friends and discovering new Amish places.

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Praying for Ukraine

Praying for Ukraine

As everyone knows by now, war broke out in Ukraine two weeks ago when Russian forces directed by Vladimir Putin brutally invaded this peaceful country. Gloria Yoder writes about the situation in her latest Amish Cook column: My heart is crushed for all the thousands suffering this very moment. Besides all the natural disasters, there’s the horror and sadness of many innocent people’s lives at…

An Amish Pumpkin & Produce Farm & House (27 Photos)

An Amish Pumpkin & Produce Farm & House (27 Photos)

Nice photos from an Amish home in St. Lawrence County, New York. These photos were taken sometime in autumn as you can see by the produce and pumpkins visible in some of the photos. The property description. It turns out they know how to grow those pumpkins: Hit the ground running with this well established and profitable Amish produce farm. The owners have sold nearly…

3 Ways Amish Keep Food Cold

3 Ways Amish Keep Food Cold

 The Amish have several ways of keeping their food cool. They include harnessing the elements – as well as technology. This will depend, of course, on the Amish group – and what’s allowed in a given church. Here’s a look at three main ways Amish keep food cold – with some additional methods at the end. 1. Propane or Gas Refrigerator The first way…

Austin, Jenna, Ethan? Changing Trends in Amish Baby Names

Austin, Jenna, Ethan? Changing Trends in Amish Baby Names

Amish baby-naming customs draw upon several sources. Many baby names are what you could term “traditional” names (Biblical names and family names). But in certain communities, the choice of baby name can also be affected by modern, non-Amish naming trends. Of course, in some settlements and groups they are going to stick with mostly or exclusively traditional names, but in the more progressive places, you…

Inside an Amish Home With Some Surprising Touches (26 Photos)

Inside an Amish Home With Some Surprising Touches (26 Photos)

This is a very neat and cozy Amish home in the Carrollton, Ohio settlement (Carroll County), with a number of fancier touches. It also contains several things that stand out as rather atypical for Amish homes, which you’ll see below. With the snow visible here we can assume the photos are quite recent – and this is a fairly new listing, having just gone up…

Amish Children Build 30-Foot-Tall Snowman

Amish Children Build 30-Foot-Tall Snowman

I do believe this is the largest snowman I’ve ever seen. Amish children in Geauga County put together a towering snowman – about 5 or 6 times taller than the tallest child – over the course of several days. Via FOX8: Resident Hannah Willis said the kids used ladders, shovels, buckets and plywood to create the flat surfaces. Their creation stands more than 30 feet…

Inside A Cozy Wisconsin Amish Farmhouse On 100+ Acres (21 Photos)

Inside A Cozy Wisconsin Amish Farmhouse On 100+ Acres (21 Photos)

This farmhouse has a cheerful appeal with a bright red roof and a cozy setting in a hilly area of Wisconsin. The area is Blair in Trempeleau County, a place where Amish have lived for over 60 years. You’ll see by the photos it’s a beautiful farm and the home feels warm and welcoming. This farm is currently up for sale and might be the…

Drug-Using Driver Who Killed Amish Boy While Checking Snapchat Sentenced To 3-to-23…Months

This sort of thing comes as near infuriating as it gets: Tabitha L. Foultz (formerly Evelhoch), 21, of Greencastle, was sentenced to serve 3 to 23 months in jail Tuesday for a homicide by vehicle charge stemming from a March 2021 Shippensburg horse-and-buggy crash that claimed the life of a 14-year-old Amish boy. On Tuesday, Foultz was also sentenced to serve between 72 hours and…

Five Fun Buys at Amish Stores (For 10 Bucks Or Less)

Five Fun Buys at Amish Stores (For 10 Bucks Or Less)

After a recent period in which I visited about a dozen Amish stores in four states (Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia), I realized I tend to buy the same things over and over again. Maybe that means I need to step outside my box a bit. Either way I thought it might be nice to share what’s on my “regular buys” list. So here are five…

Inside a Colorado Amish Furniture Store (Video)

Inside a Colorado Amish Furniture Store (Video)

I made this video showing the inside of Yoder’s Home Furnishings in Westcliffe, Colorado. You can also see a lot of amazing views of the area. Overall my visit to Colorado was a great trip and I was able to get around to four of the six Amish communities in the Centennial State. Visiting four communities out there is a bit more of a challenge…