Amish Gardening and Preserving

     When I drive past most Amish gardens in early May, I see plastic milk jugs lined up in rows. With the bottoms cut out, they’re used for mini greenhouses, extending the planting season by a month. Most gardens in Pennsylvania aren’t planted until Memorial Day and in New York, July 4^th! So once again we see how dependent the Amish are on the land.

      I know an Amish family of nine who live primarily on what they “put up” from their garden. This amazes me still since my husband and I have four grown “kids” and remember those grocery bills when they were all in their teens, and we “put up” at least 500 quarts of food. Well, I know my Amish friends put up well over a thousand jars.

      The trick I’m learning is that they preserve only what they use, no fancy chutneys like I like to try. They don’t pour over glossy recipe books like me, confused as to what they should or should not plant. So this year I’m determined to can only what’s going to help our food bill. This will include jams, fruits and vegetables that go in recipes I actually use, not ones I see in magazines hoping to try “someday.”

I have two wonderful books as resources:

 Amish Cooking by Pathway Publishing. You can buy it online at: http://pathway-publishers.com/tag/amish-recipes/  Pathway is run by the Amish and are authentic Amish books.

Also, for inspiration I read Lovina Eicher books. She’s an Old Order Amish woman who’s written three coffee table quality books that are part memoir, cultural education, and recipes. I have the The Amish Cook's Anniversary Book: 20 Years of Food, Family, and Faith. I won’t be buying her baking book anytime soon…I use the Weight Watchers Cookbook for desserts ;)

Blessings to you!

Karen Anna Vogel

Simplicity Learned in the Ups and Downs of Life.

It’s been over a month since I’ve written anything on this blog, but am happy to report my son got married and my sister-in-law got her kidney transplant. A lot can happen in a month and simplicity had to really be a discipline for me. Cutting away anything that really wasn’t necessary and clearing my plate so I could help the people I love is really the Amish way of living. Relationships are more important than anything, period.

I also saw something that was heartwarming; many families, friends and church members coming together in community to serve one another. No wonder the Amish are the happiest people in the USA. When emotions are up with a wedding and down with a possible death, it’s nice to have people hold your hand and ask how you’re doing. I thought often of the famous line Clarence, the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life said. “No man is a failure who has friends.” It so true. I learned a lesson about what real success is in life; faith, family, friends!

A good read on Simplicity is Richard Foster’s Celebration of Simplicity. If I hadn’t been reading that book over the past month and stuck to the simple way of living my Amish friends adopt, I would have missed out on such blessings. Too much internal noise in life rob us of everyday joys.

Blessings to you!

Karen Anna Vogel

Amish Weddings verses American Weddings

     One of my daughters got married 7 months ago and my son is getting married in 5 weeks. As usual, the contrast in US culture verses the Amish culture has made me re-think everything. To know why I've contemplated, let me tell you how most Old Order Amish celebrate their weddings.

     Amish couples are “published” or their engagement is announced in church. There’s no diamond engagement ring or wedding rings at all. Weddings are held on Tuesday and Thursday in early spring, before the planting season or in late fall, after the harvest. The bride will sew a new simple dress using the same pattern she uses to make all her dresses. She does have bridesmaids but they wear their plain clothes at the wedding.  There’s a wedding feast, typically at the brides home or barn, made by Amish relatives, and the couple is set apart in a corner. This corner table is something special to them.  My Amish friend, Noah, told me about his wedding feast with a twinkle in his eyes. I asked why they sat in the corner, and in typical Amish fashion, he looked stumped and said, “It’s the way we’ve always done it.”  But it seems more like a rite of passage, something they’ve looked forward to their whole life. I think it’s charming.

    I look at the Amish and see a common theme; it’s not all about the bride and her making ten-thousand decisions. No one is yelling at her saying “You deserve the best. You only get married once. You’re the princess of the day and you can have what you want.” This constant clamor can make the sweetest bride turn self-centered and perhaps turn into a bridezilla. The Amish bride has few decisions. She doesn’t deal with her gown, fancy bridesmaid’s dresses, flowers, photography, DJ, or musician. It may sound severe, but the Amish I know look forward to weddings for the fun and fellowship and what’s really going on…vows before God. 

     It seems like with both of my kids getting married they start out going nuts about all the decisions, then realize a month or so later it’s about the vows…usually after they’re burnt out and have asked if they can just elope. ;)    

     Today, the average cost of an American wedding is 20K. I told Amish friends about this and they either laughed at the ridiculousness of it or were plain aghast.  They all agree it’s wasteful and foolish. "I can build a barn with that money!" one man said. From their influence, my husband and I give our kids $5.000.00 for their wedding. We give them professional pre-marriage counseling as their wedding gift, and  Dave Ramsey books so they can be debt free. We had lots of pressure to do more as other family and friends have financed their kids weddings on a thirty year payment plan, but being “Almost Amish” has made us stick to what we thinks important, the marriage vows and celebrating with community, plain and simple.  

Blessings,

Karen Anna Vogel

  

The Serenity Prayer used by the Amish

I’m taking my sister-in-law to the hospital today for things she needs to get done for her kidney transplant. I love Suzanne so much and am afraid of losing her. So I say the Serenity Prayer. It’s a longer prayer than people think. The Amish have adopted many prayers and saying they turn into proverbs, whether they’re written by the Amish or not. The Serenity Prayer was written by Pastor Reinhold Niebuhr 1934, during the Great Depression.

This prayer covers all areas of life and has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve Step programs. I'll be using it today...maybe you will too.

 Here’s the whole prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

Blessings to you!

Karen Anna Vogel

Four Amish Children Die in Flood: How the Amish Deal with Grief and Loss.

I was so sad to hear that four Amish children died in a flash flood in Kentucky. It’s hard to imagine the feelings of the parents.  My heart and prayers go out to the Wagler family.

How do Amish cope with grief and loss? My Amish friends tell me friendships get them through. Mourners are not alone. When someone dies, the Amish community makes sure the surviving family has visitors every Saturday or Sunday for the next year. One year! Meals are brought to the family every week for one year! They don’t downplay the feelings of grief. The mourners also wear black for a year, just like people used to do in the 1800’s. How times have changed.

I lost my mom and two cousins over the past two years. It seems like some people think there’s a drive-through grief. Aren’t you over it yet? Actually, Amish friends helped me see it’s something that needs talked about and cried over. Yes, it’s been 2 years since I lost my mom and one cousin and a year since I lost my closest cousin and dear friend, but I still ache. The Amish are always showing me the new normal as our society seems to rush through everything, even grief.

Blessings to you!

Karen Anna Vogel

Homebound because of winter storm...What would the Amish do?

I find myself too afraid to venture out, since this winter storm may be historic. My husband is stuck in Minnesota on a business trip. I wonder what my Amish friends would do because they're homebound too. What do Amish people do to pass the time?

They may be catching up on family time, so maybe they're having a "telling". This is story time, and it can be true or not. It can start with one person and circulate into a round. They may be reading from the Martyr's Mirror, a mammoth book on the persecution of their ancestors. Or, they just might be reading a classic book, written by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, it depends on if their church district's strictness. My Amish friends are avid readers, and as long as it's clean and good, they read it.

Maybe they're catching up on sewing. How many times have I visited and they're sewing clothes? Maybe working on a quilt to sell at the auction. Maybe making Amish dolls, rag rugs, baskets, or other things to sell in local stores.

They may be playing a games. One favorite is Dutch Blitz, a fast playing card game. Checkers and chess are also popular.

Maybe they're writing. The Amish have a weekly paper called the Die Botschaft. When they showed it to me, I said we had something similar, only on the internet....facebook. The Die Botschaft is like reading a Facebook entry, only most people you don't know, and obviously no pictures of faces. They read it faithfully to see what's happening in new settlements, who may need cheering up with a card, some may tell a need and they may write a check to help in case of an emergency.

One thing I know is that they'd all be in the same main room doing whatever it is they're doing. They only open up the upstairs rooms when it's time for bed. The family believes in being together. You won't find one kid reading a book in his room, another playing with her doll in hers, the mom knitting in another and the father buried in the paper in another. No, they're all together, so no matter what they’re doing, they’re enriching their family, which is most precious to them.

If you live in the USA, all but sunny Florida is in a deep chill of historic proportions. Why not make the most of your time and build family relationships...

Blessings,

Karen Anna Vogel

If you admire deep character and enduring values, live them yourself. (Advice from Amish Cont.)

“How much does if cost of a cord of split wood, Harry?” I asked my paraplegic Amish friend.

“I don’t know. The People fill my woodshed every year, since I can’t split wood,” he said.

Harry story is not uncommon. I’ve seen the effects of the Amish slower paced life; they have time to value what’s really important: faith, family, and friends.

There was a survey done in 2007 to find out who are the happiest people in America. The results showed, to everyone’s surprise, the Amish. I wasn’t surprised though. We all long for strong family ties, life-long friendships and a faith that permeates all we do.

The Amish place such high regard on the family, especially aged parents. They build them smaller houses called a dawdyhaus (grandparent house) and take care of them in their old age. If the aging parent suffers from any impairment, they take care of them in the home. My friend in Smicksburg told me a stoke patient, who was paralyzed, was taken care of around the clock by family.

Friendships in America are at an all-time low. Duke University did a study called, “Social Isolation in America.” It found that people have fewer friends outside of their immediate family, due to long work hours. Internet friendships have also replaced face to face communication, and people are feeling more isolated than ever. The Amish, by contrast know the importance of friendship. When someone dies, they can expect to be visited by friends weekly for a year, until their grief subsides. I find this amazing.

The Amish are a Christian sect, that tries to live out the words of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7 It can be broken down into five categories. The first in the Beatitudes, blessings to comfort believers, such as “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” and “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  The second category is New Laws, such as going the extra mile and loving your neighbor. The third category is the Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father, as some people call it. The fourth is about the dangers of the love of money, and the fifth is on warning to be wise verses foolish.

I’m challenged by this in many areas. Turn off Facebook and visit people face to face. Our family has decided to have Sunday dinners again, and I’m reading Matthew 5-7 a lot more, seeing how I can put feet to my faith.

Blessings,

Karen Anna Vogel