It is the harvest season in Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Enjoying a rainy day with a dear friend, a short visit through the rich farmland and the large homesteads impressed me as to how hardworking the Amish are.
The Amish Church originated in Switzerland in 1693, and many migrated to Pennsylvania in the 1720’s. Known for their simple ways of living, plain dress, and shunning modern conveniences in their home, the Amish are 250,000 strong. With the largest community in Lancaster County, the lifestyle of an earlier century survives in the 21st century. Oddly enough, there are no Amish in Europe in current day. All of the Amish reside in either the United States or Canada.
Of Swiss-German descent, the Amish maintain their Pennsylvania Dutch language at home, and speak English outside of the household. School is offered through the eighth grade, when the children are released to work on the family farm. Taking an Aaron & Jessica’s Buggy Ride located next to the Plan & Fancy Restaurant that was featured on the Travel Channel Show Man vs. Food, we had the opportunity to visit a dairy farm in Intercourse, Pennsylvania and to get close and personal with their way of life.
The harvesting of the field corn is a full family effort. Their father is out in the field with a mule team using a thrasher that knocks down the corn stalks and culls the corn ears into a large collection bed.
The older son then comes to collect the corn bin to store the corn cobs in the barn. With his little brother in tow, he worked steadily to get the crop in for the winter.
Then using an air compressor to energize the corn conveyor belt each ear of corn is painstakingly moved onto the belt to be moved onto the huge pile of corn in the barn.
That is one huge pile of corn !
One can only be impressed by the amount of work just a small family can accomplish. In current day, about 50% of the Amish population continue to farm, while the remaining Amish find work in construction, retail and other related industries. Much of the Lancaster farmers are dairy farmers growing corn, alfalfa and hay for cow feed.
Rain or shine, the Amish work their farm knowing that their livelihood depends on it. I bet they sleep well at night after a good day of work!
To see my photo gallery from this photo field trip, please visit my smugmug website:
Amish Country by Bella Remy Photography
Categories: About, Equitrekking, Foot Prints, Nature
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
I really enjoyed this post. I’m thinking of taking a trip to Amish country in the spring, and these photographs underscore that resolution. What a great experience!
http://tracicarver.com/2012/10/15/its-a-dark-world-after-all-part-ii-of-iii/
You should truly go. It’s such beautiful country, the air clean and the food wholesome. A great place to refresh the spirit. Thank you so much for visiting and hope to see you back soon! Bella
Nice! Nice! Nice! 🙂 🙂
You are too kind Maggie ! Thank you! Have a happy evening.
In the 1980s, some of the Amish started moving from North America to South America. I am not sure if they have since then moved back but as recent as three decades ago – the Amish did not live solely in North America. Interesting post!
That is probably true then. Our guide wasn’t the most informative in the full details of the Amish, but it sounded good ! Thanks for sharing.
Loving your photos – thanks for sharing! Happy Day:)
Thanks Renee ! You are so kind to stop by and leave a comment. Take care! Bella
an Amish cart maker made my cart for the time when i was driving in competition in Combined Driving Events – what a beautiful piece of craftmanship – and what a spendid way to enjoy what was once a piece of America – hook your harnessed horse to a small cart and drive to your intended destination – you move thru life at a pace few can appreciate at this time
They have some really nice carts don’t they? It is true, when slowing down to a horse and cart, the world perspective totally changes. Thank you so much for commenting and great to see you! Hope all is well.
Very interesting info, Bella. Wonderful photos of their lifestyle. I do admire them very much. 🙂
Thank you so much ! They’re lives are quite intriguing, but as you know, with any good there are bad. They are quite rigid in their beliefs and at times can be unforgiving.
What a lovely and interesting post and some great shots,,, 🙂
The conveyor belt to the corncobs is that electrically, so they use a little “modern” energy …? 🙂
They use an air compressor that is gas generated so not officially electricity. Creative license I’d say. Thank you so much for your kind comment Drake.
Super series Bella! I feel like I was there. Very interesting photos and commentary, well done!
Thank you so much Phil ! So happy that you enjoyed this post. A bit different than the swamp!
I have always had such a fascination with the way of life of the Amish community. Thank you for these delightful, charming pictures Bella! What a privilege for me to see a day in the life of these kind folks. Hugs, Sharon
You are so kind Sharon ! There are more to come, so stay tuned.
I love those pudding bowl hair cuts…cute kid!!
He truly was such a character. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you back soon. Bella
What a great post! I have long been fascinated by the Amish. It’s quite amazing that the community continues to thrive in the midst of a wider culture that is so very different. There have been several recent TV programmes in the UK about the Amish and they have received high viewing figures, a nostalgia for a simpler way of life??? It is surprising that there are no Amish left in Europe. I wonder what led them to leave to settle in America in the first place??
Great photographs. A real window into a very different world.
Love Corinne
Hi Corinne ! It’s wonderful to see you. I do know there was a bit of discord in the Amish and the Mennonites spun off the original church. Each community can create their own rules which complicates things even further. For that time period, America was the land of promise and they could get large tracts of land to settle on.
There is a new tv show here called “Breaking the Amish” which shows three Amish children who have just come of age and moved to New York to see what modern life is like. They’ve let loose quite a bit as you can imagine. Truly, the Amish is a fascinating culture and somehow it manages to thrive.
Thanks for visiting, I’ve been thinking of you and need to catch up with that kind nomination that you presented to me. Bella
Recently there was a documentary shown over here about some modern day teenagers who went to live with the Amish for a few weeks. They went from being stroppy and generally lazy and not being able to do without ipads, cell phones etc to becoming hard working and respectful in just a few weeks. Mind you, how they fare when they get back to their normal lives will be interesting to see. But it was an interesting experiment. A great post by the way.
That is wonderful that they took modern day children and placed them on the farm. Such an experience, and I bet they are the better for it. I’m sure they were happy to get back to their modern lives though.
What a wonderful trip…. LOVE the images, such joy!! ♥
You and I would have had so much time playing up there together. Such incredible farm homesteads all throughout the land.
Love Amish Country! Are you Eastern US? Minnesota and Wisconsin have large settlements of Amish. I love backroadin’ in their communities. This must be a somewhat progressive group (or whatever you would call it) evident by the Bobcat in the background 🙂
Hi Dan, I’m in the Mid-Atlantic – Maryland just outside of Annapolis. This visit was in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Didn’t know the Amish made it to Minnesota and Wisconsin. But I bet great farming country. I’d imagine they have a non-Amish work the truck for them. They can ride in it, but can’t drive.
Strictly a curious consideration. Most; not all, cultures and subcultures in a country are willing to declare some loyalty to the nation they live in. I’m up here in Canada. In my specific neck of the woods there are many Mennotite settlements. None seem to ever fly the Canadian flag. Do you find similar or differing conduct with the Amish with regards to the American flag?
That is a really interesting observation and one I haven’t thought of before. I do know that they do not receive social security payments, but don’t know if they pay income tax. They do seem like a country within a country. Worth looking into. Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed very much your post on the Amish. I live in Pennsylvania and have visited there community on many occasions. I even was able to take one of their buggy rides.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Nice post. I’ve been to Lancaster PA on a trip many years ago. I thought it was quite beautiful…and I had the best glass of lemonade ever at a little country store! Definitely makes you look at the simple things a little differently.