Are the Amish driving Teslas now? If you glanced at recent headlines, you might come away with that idea. Ben Zook runs Belmont Solar, located in Lancaster County. According to the story at teslarati.com, they install solar panels in 90 local homes, mostly Amish, each year (I’ve heard of this company before, but never had any direct dealings with it). The hook of the story…
After our look at an Amish buggy which sold for $18,400 at an auction in Gratz, PA, Jerry is back with a second buggy from the same event – this one for “only” $15,000. What makes this one different, and almost 20% cheaper? Jerry explains: “The second buggy sold was a step down in components. It featured a drum braking system and “rubber O” suspension.”…
I saw this reported a while back and meant to do a post on it, but it fell through the cracks. Then the New York Post picked up the story this past week and gave it legs. John Stoltzfoos is an Amish farmer from Lancaster County. He’s been doing the 3-hour (one way) commute to NYC for over 18 years, selling his farm products at…
Ten years ago, we had a look at a $9,861 Amish buggy seen in a PA community. This one is nearly double that price. Conclusion: Inflation is hitting the Amish hard too! Well, maybe not just inflation. This buggy comes loaded with some flashy features (at least in Amish terms). So a chunk of the price tag likely reflects those add-ons. Remember this is something you…
This is the kind of local color story I always get a kick out of. Not that I’m excited that this particular community will go without their Amish-made donuts. Not that at all. It’s more how it shows how people value the products and experiences Amish people bring to their communities. The Power of Amish Donuts Amish in many places are renowned for their donuts….
I attended the Schoeneck (pronounced, I believe, “Shay-neck”) Fire Company Mud Sale this past Saturday. What a nice day for this kind of event. Not much mud in sight though, and a rather windy day. This photo doesn’t quite do it justice, but you can see the flags and the “Exit” sign being bent down by the gusts. I was there later in the afternoon…
Back in December, while on the way up to Goot Essa cheese, Ben and I stopped in at an Amish farm food business we happened upon along the way. Spring Bank Acres is located in Penns Valley and is run by Raymond Fisher and his wife Mary. I realized I hadn’t shared this yet, so here are some photos from that day and our travel…
You might recall our visit to Emma’s Gourmet Popcorn back in 2022. At the time I was told they’d be moving to a new location. And Emma’s has in fact gone big, opening up in a new building closer to the heart of the community. This is the original video, from the previous, smaller location, if you missed it:  Comparing that to what you’ll…
Jim Halverson shares another batch of photos from an Amish auction – this one in Gladwin County, Michigan. Gladwin County has two distinct Amish communities. This is a Swartzentruber group. We saw this community in the recent Amish barn-raising series. Jim shares some beautiful shots of an event that took place this autumn. In the foreground of this photo, we see a farm implement by…
If you caught the “Is Amish Life Hard?” post of a couple weeks ago, that was an excerpt of a longer conversation with John Esh. Today I’m sharing the full video of our talk. John is an Amishman living in the Nittany Valley community of Centre County, Pennsylvania. Goot Essa is John’s company. For about the first half of this 27-minute conversation, we discuss Amish…