One Trip at a Time, All Day Long
In what has lately been a very hard winter here in Ohio, we got a break in temperatures these last few days, and I made a trip to Holmes County to see what the Amish people there were doing with the respite. In typical fashion, they were out using the day to good purpose, mucking out the stalls and loading up manure spreaders. Almost everywhere we turned, we saw teams hitched to red spreaders, walking slowly over the fields, pitching manure left, right and aft, preparing the soil for spring planting, or working over a field planted earlier with winter wheat. At one farm, the lad had used a front loader to stack manure outside the barn, and he had a pile of aromatic fertilizer that was easily eight feet high and thirty yards long, all of it destined for the fields across the way. I got this picture of him bringing his team back for another load, and I thought how remarkable it was that he’d do little else that day. Move a pile of manure as big as an eighteen wheeler? There’s only one way to do that – one trip at a time.
Tags: Amish, Holmes County, Ohio Amish Mysteries
» Ron says:
January 25th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Have read all your books over the past decade.
I and our cycling club from Orrville ride down into Amish countryside all the time the whole year around. Especially to Fredericksburg the most. We ride to Mt Eaton to Berlin to Millersburg. We ride the back rural roads..township and county roads.
» Polly Givens says:
February 1st, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Professor,
I have read your books for years and enjoy them so much. My husband and I often travel the roads and lanes of Holmes and Wayne Co. Bob worked for the USDA for a few years and visited many Amish farms doing surveys. We enjoy the out of the way places, as you do. Doughty Valley is one of our favorite places. We will buy Trail Bologna, Swiss Cheese and crackers at Swiss Valley Bulk Food, head over the hills and dales snacking away.
We also look for innovative agricultural methods among the Amish.
» Ben Stone, Dayton, Ohio says:
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Dear Mr. Gaus,
A few brief questions:
* Do the Amish accept state or federal farm subsidies?
* What steps are the Amish taking to further ‘green’ energy production, such as biodiesel and passive solar water purification?
* What is the preferred Amish position as regards the internet?
* How in the heck do you all make such great butter, breads, and cheese? Truly, they rank among the best in the world.
Thank You,
Ben Stone
Dayton, Ohio