The Life of an Amish

          The life of Amish people is significantly different from our lives. For them, they're still living in the past. Amish are very religious people, education only lasts 9 years, and their clothing is very conservative. Most of their lifestyle only revolves around ours if it is absolutely necessary.
The Amish Lifestyle
Simplicity, a Way of Life — A faith that dictates foregoing modern amenities, including electricity, automobiles and telephones, guides the Amish. This simple way of life is derived from teachings in the Bible and the Amish desire for an autonomous community.
Military Service — Following the biblical teaching of "love thy neighbor," the Amish faith forbids violence and active military service.
Amish and Mennonite — As offshoots of the Anabaptist faith, the Amish and Mennonite groups are closely related. In general, Mennonites condone a more liberal lifestyle, which includes some modern amenities such as electricity and automobiles.
Amish Attire — The Amish dress simply with only basic ornamentation. Men's trousers use buttons rather than zippers. Amish women sew their family's clothing from solid-color fabric, often in shades of blue. Young girls can wear pastel-colored dresses and, like Amish women, wear bonnets. Adult men can grow beards, but no mustaches (a centuries-old prohibition traced to mustached men in the European military). Only married Amish women wear aprons, and they can wear white aprons for church services.
Photography — All forms and methods of photography are strictly forbidden. The Amish can't pose for photographs nor use cameras to capture images. The Amish believe photographs lead to pride, which threatens the importance of the "community" by emphasizing individualism and calling attention to individuals.
Education — Formal education ends with the eighth grade. After that, Amish boys begin an apprenticeship to learn a trade; girls learn the skills necessary to maintain a home.
Work — The Amish are adept farmers, and the majority of Northern Indiana's Amish live on farms. Today, however, few Amish men are full-time farmers. To support their large families, most work in factories, artisan workshops or cottage businesses. Adolescent Amish girls and women often work in retail businesses or restaurants.
Home and Family — The home is the center of Amish life. Amish families host every event and gathering in their homes, from church services to funerals and weddings. Generally, Amish homes are uncluttered and furnished simply. Amish women take pride in their housekeeping, cooking and providing clothes and the staples of everyday life for their families. Many Amish homes include additions or small detached dwellings called dawdy houses, where family members such as grandparents live. In summer and fall, bountiful vegetable and flower gardens add splashes of color to the usually white buildings on Amish farmsteads.
Courtship and Marriage — When Amish boys turn 16, they receive a courting buggy for transportation to chaperoned social gatherings, where courtships often begin. During courtship, Amish boys escort eligible girls to church services, singing programs and other Amish events. Couples marry for life, and weddings often are major celebrations, including up to 500 guests. The Amish wedding day begins at 9 a.m. with the singing of hymns. A full sermon and the exchange of marriage vows follow. The wedding day concludes with a huge potluck meal.
Taxes and Insurance — The Amish pay state, federal and county taxes. Typically, they refuse Social Security benefits. Their faith dictates that the Amish community cares for its elderly. This self-supporting principle also eliminates the need for health insurance.
Healthcare — While Amish families often try alternative treatments, they will seek the services of doctors and modern hospitals when necessary.

Population Trends — Northern Indiana's Amish population doubles about every 20 years, primarily due to the large size of Amish families, which often include 10 or more children.       

A Day in the Life of a Farmer

Take a look into the typical day of Rusty Lee:

The Day Begins

          In his green Carhart jacket, aviator sunglasses and old baseball cap, Rusty Lee, owner of Lee Farms LLC., begins the day’s work on his 20-acre vegetable farm in Truxton, Mo. “I usually begin the day getting the plan together and organizing the day’s work,” Lee said.

Picking and Packaging

          Lee and employees begin the morning during harvest handpicking vegetables. “We pick only what items we need to fill for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) orders,” Lee said. The employees then package the vegetables into their boxes, pictured above, for pick-ups and drop-offs.

Old North

          After loading his truck with CSA orders, Lee travels twice a week to St. Louis to drop them off. Since 2009, one of his many stops is at Old North St. Louis. In the fall of 2008, Lee Farms began working with Old North to figure out a way to get fresh produce to residents. “The desire in the community is what made this happen,” Lee said. “There is lots of satisfaction knowing that I had a small part in this effort.” Old North is still flourishing and now has a grocery co-op in the community for residents.

Working Together

          Lee and employees also box orders for Ole Tyme Produce Inc. Lee Farms LLC has worked with Ole Tyme for many years. “It is a good fit for our farm because we have branched out to serving restaurants through working with Ole Tyme,” Lee said.

Recycling

          After harvest is completed, Lee hops aboard his tractor and drives down the gravel road back to the field to begin recycling the black plastic used to grow his vegetables and zinnias.

Making Adjustments

          Lee’s strong, weathered, dirt-covered hands work swiftly while tightening a bolt before going to the field. “Each year you have to make a few adjustments,” Lee said.

Mowing

          Lee mows the weeds as close to the black plastic as possible. This helps when the plow goes over the surface the second time to loosen the soles of the plastic around the edges.

Disking and Plowing

          As the end of the workday nears, Lee continues to disk and plow the black plastic. “We will continue to do this for the month,” Lee said. After all of the plastic is out of the field, a recycling truck will come to collect it.

Getting to Know You

          Lee and his wife, Teresa, enjoy their daily role farming vegetables and maintaining relationships with CSA customers and consumers. They host farm tours, network through Facebook and educate others through grocery store and restaurant appearances. “Many people say it is neat for them to know their farmer, but I think it is neat for me to know my consumer,” Lee said.

 

Being a farmer isn't as easy as people perceive it to be. There is a lot of hard work that goes into a single day. Farming isn't just growing crops. It's growing, harvesting, selling, and interacting with your consumers. Many farmers don't just grow crops either; they also raise livestock. As you can tell, an average day is packed with work.

Raising Livestock

         

          Raising livestock is a win-win situation for everyone. How? Well, you buy a couple of cows and say they have calves. That gives you a total of 3 cows just within the first year of raising them. If you feed these cows a proper diet when they get big enough you can sell them off for, I don't know, about $500+ dollars each.
          During the process of raising these cows, if you have a female, you can use their milk instead of buying milk from the store. On the other hand, you can also sell some of the milk to increase your profit even more. What about all the manure they produce? A good option for that is to rake it up into a pile, let it set for a while, then use it to fertilize your garden. This will give you organic crops that produce more fruit/vegetables than just watering. Again, you're making even more of a profit from one purchase. Isn't that great?
          This process isn't just for cows. You could buy goats, pigs, chickens, etc. that offer the manure benefit, the goat also offers milk, and with chickens you could sell the eggs. Not to mention that a pigs or two and a few chickens aren't a big space consumer. They don't even require much attention; just a feeding twice a day and clean out their pen once a week and that's all you need. So if your community allows it, buy some livestock and start an organic garden and you could have a decent second income.

Organic Farming

The Organic Foods Production Act and the NOP rule require that agricultural products labeled as organic originate from farms or handling operations certified by a state or private agency that has been accredited by USDA. Neither the Organic Foods Production Act nor the NOP rule address food safety or nutrition. The NOP rule prohibits the use of genetic engineering (included in the list of excluded methods), ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge. The rule includes the following:     

• Production and handling requirements, which address organic crop production, wild crop harvesting, organic livestock management, and processing and handling of organic agricultural products
• The National List of Allowed Synthetic and Prohibited Non-Synthetic Substances (7 CFR 205.600-205.606)
• Labeling requirements for organic products
• Compliance, testing, fee, and state program approval requirements
• Certification and recordkeeping requirements
• Accreditation requirements for receiving and maintaining accreditation, as well as requirements for foreign accreditation
• Other administrative functions of the National Organic Program, which include evaluation of foreign organic certification program

Although organic farming is more expensive, organic products have many benefits. Some of these benefits are: the lack of toxic residues of conventional food, more nutritious, healthier (higher in antioxidants), pesticide reduction, better taste, environmental safety, etc.

When compared to fertilized crops organic crops are overall better. Although fertilized crops are cheaper, they are also loaded with chemicals. These chemicals, in the long run, can be harmful to the human body. If you want to save money on organic products, grow your own organically.

To learn more about organic farming, check out the rest of the EPA's blog here.