Over the weekend an Amish teen in Vernon County, Wisconsin died while cutting ice. In light of today’s topic of Amish and self-sufficiency, it seems tragically coincidental to now hear of an accident like this one. In more conservative communities, Amish use ice houses to keep food cold. In cold-weather areas Amish harvest their own ice. In some sense these Amish are further along the…
When you read or watch something about the Amish, you might be told that they live separately from the world. It may be further implied or stated that the Amish are a self-sufficient people. Likewise, some seem to assume Amish wake to days full of churning butter, cobbling shoes, and forging metal goods. Seeing an Amish person filling a cart in Wal-Mart can send these folks into shock….
I had a massive craving for pie the other day, one which struck like lightning. In North Carolina I am over 2 hours from any Amish communities, so I headed posthaste to my local Kroger for the store-baked variety. The black raspberry pie I selected came in an attractive matte box which had encouraging things printed on it, like “Private Selection” and “Fresh Baked In…
Tom in New York checks in again today with a piece of technology that can be a necessity this time of year, depending on your latitude. This horse-drawn snow plow is at the ready on an Amish farm in the Conewango Valley in western New York. This machine was made by Pioneer Equipment of Dalton, Ohio, a well-known manufacturer of horse-drawn equipment in the Holmes…
You may remember news last summer that researchers had conducted a nationwide Amish population survey. I just had a chance to read an interesting paper detailing their findings. Here are 5 of them: 1. New settlements On average a new settlement is founded every few weeks. This rate has been increasing. From 1990-2000, a settlement was founded, on average, every 5.33 weeks. 2000-2010 saw this…
Ruth Anne writes: As a mother to a young woman who has Down syndrome I am curious as to how people with intellectual disabilities are accepted and integrated into the Amish culture. I live near Xenia, Ohio and I often see Amish people out and about shopping, visiting the doctor, etc., but I have never noticed an Amish person who has Down syndrome or any…
A version of a songbook used by Amish at Arthur, Illinois. This photo was sent in by a non-Amish reader; it contains the English translation beneath the German text. Some Amish use hymn books which are variations on the well-known Ausbund.
How do Amish spend their free time? Amish fill their leisure hours with a variety of activities, including: 1. Board games Tailor-made to winter days around the kitchen table. Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Monopoly are among the favorites. 2. Hunting A male pastime. Occasionally females participate as well (more likely if you’re sister to, say, 8 older brothers). 3. Birding Hunting without the guns. Amish…
Pennsylania Amishman John Stoltzfus has agreed to answer some reader questions. Last week’s concerned Amish medical care and use of vaccinations. As before, John notes that he will take a general approach to his answers, keeping in mind that communities differ. Today’s question is on Amish migration: How do settlements get started? Is it just people from previous settlements moving and starting them in other…
In closing a recent post on Amish use of solar and wind power, I joked: Maybe one day we’ll observe Amish buggies rolling down the road, plastered with solar panels, or with whirling wind turbines planted on their roofs. The first part of that tongue-in-cheek prediction is actually closer to reality than one might think, at least for some Amish. A reader shares a photo of a solar…