Several years ago we had a look inside the home of the Graber family, featuring photos courtesy of Don Burke (check it out here). I went ahead and made a little video out of Don’s photos with some of my additional comments on this cozy home. Don originally went on a tour via an Amish Farm Tour opportunity on their property. However, this didn’t include…
So if you’re not into “social media drama”, just skip this post. I don’t plan to make a habit of covering things from Facebook, but I need to address this here. You might remember a post I did in August about Eddie Swartzentruber’s TikTok channel (“Swartzentruber Amish-Raised Man Shares The Bad Sides Of His Amish Life“). Eddie responded on Facebook, making some false claims about…
Very sad story from central PA, via the Altoona Mirror: Three members of an Amish family died in a farming accident Wednesday morning. Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers said Andrew Beiler, 47, and his two sons ages 14 and 19 died from asphyxiation after they were trapped inside a silo. The buildup in gases inside the silo caused their deaths, which have been ruled accidental….
Good news for one of the country’s most widely-covered Amish stores, in the little Amish community at Unity, Maine. Back in January, the Amish Community Market & Bakery burned down in a rapidly-moving fire which likely started in a stove or chimney. Reflecting its popularity, in the aftermath of the fire owner Caleb Stoll received many donations and offers to help from non-Amish people who…
 “Why are the Amish using plastic packaging? I am so disappointed.” That is a comment someone left on the recent video on the Amish popcorn shop. Lot of plastic packaging in that shop, like in any Amish-owned store that sells food (or other products for that matter). I find this expression of disapproval interesting for a few reasons. I think it reveals a few…
This is a neat story from earlier in the summer I didn’t get around to posting. An Amish couple in Somerset County, PA, agreed to be interviewed and photographed for a story on purple martins. These are the birds every Amish farmer wants to have around. They eat pesky insects, lots of them, and are valued for that. Purple martin houses are common on Amish…
This past June I visited Emma’s Gourmet Popcorn in Lancaster County. I recorded this video showing the different flavors they sell (apparently 60 of them). I didn’t realize there were so many flavors of popcorn; you’ll see my surprise at some of the unexpected tastes I find in the shop. As I’m recording you’ll hear the banter of some Amish friends and store workers in…
We’ve got a winner of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women by Judy Stavisky today. If you didn’t catch last week’s Q&A with Judy, you can find that here. She has done a nice job of answering a number of your questions in the comments there. But first here’s an excerpt of the book, courtesy of Herald Press. This is from pages…
Jim Halverson recently visited the Kalona, Iowa Amish community. We’ll have some photo sets from this visit to Iowa’s largest Amish community. Here’s the first one, from the local produce auction. Jim first visited the Kalona Creamery where he talked to an Amish girl working there: The girl at the Creamery directed us to a nearby produce auction. They were auctioning off palettes of great…
For years now, Judy Stavisky has been driving and accompanying Amish women on shopping trips, building friendships with them and learning firsthand about their lives. Judy has compiled her experiences and insights in a new book called In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women. Here’s the description via Herald Press: What does the life of an Amish woman really look like? Over the…