Amish

A friend of mine invited me to go with her and her kids to visit the Amish and see their produce and canned foods that they sell at their farms.

It was a beautiful sunny day and that really added as much to the visits to the farms as the wonderfully bountiful produce did.

To see the choice of lifestyle which places both blessings and burdens in their path was a journey into a different time. Their clothing was simple and clean. Since it is summer, no one had on shoes. Of course, I seldom wear them myself unless compelled, but since most people that I see DO choose to wear shoes it was odd seeing the adults and children moving about barefooted across everything from grass to gravel.

The tomatos were beautiful and rich with colors of the spectrum that generally don't make it to "a store near you". They had yellow and orange and blood red tomatos in addition to the plump beefsteak variety that are so common. They had the green tomatos that reminded me of scampering out to bring in a few choice ones picked from the vine for the supper on a summer night.

Jars sealed with fruits and jellies filled the shelves along side soaps and candles that had been made to sell to the "Englishers" who come to buy, to gawk and to give their community the one thing they can't make for themselves - money.

I plan to go back in either late September or the first part of October and pick up some butter and cheese and milk along with the fall vegetables that can fill my pantry and freezer for the coming winter.

It's well worth the drive up and most certainly worth the trade. They get something that they cannot make themselves and I get produce that is better than what the grocery store carries in stock.