Last week, the Tuesday morning coffee group that Lorna and I attend, had lunch at an Amish farm near us. We have been aware of the presence of Amish families on Prince Edward Island – Canada’s island province. for the last ten years or so but we have never had a lot of contact with them. We have encountered the buggies at various times in our travels and have bought a few things from them but had little contact otherwise. We were looking forward to this experience as a way of getting to know them and know more about the Amish.
A group of seventeen members of the coffee group
carpooled to the farm and our expectations were more than met. The dinner
was hosted by a woman and her two adult daughters. The man of the house –
a farrier (blacksmith) – was away for work. The main course of chicken
was on a large BBQ operated by one of the women - apparently BBQing is not
men’s work for the Amish as it is in my family.
The meal – definitely not a lunch – consisted of
BBQ chicken, unique potato salad (the recipe available) and other salads, water
and lemonade, with coffee and tea along with huge portions of strawberry
upside-down cake with cream for dessert. Most of the food was raised by
the host family or the community with a few things such as salad dressing was
store bought. The hostess noted that they raise as much produce as
possible as food prices in stores are incredibly expensive – no argument here
from the person who does most of the shopping for Lorna and me. We were
seated indoor at a large table (two actually pushed together) in very
comfortable conditions. It was interesting that the original fluorescent
light fixture had an oil lamp hanging from it.
It was a case of loaves and fishes as the
quantity of food was limitless with more left over than we consumed - the
quality matches the quantity The hostess noted that this would be shared
with other families in their community.
There are three young sons in the family who gave
us a demonstration of the buggy they have which is powered by a pony named Judy
who is twenty plus years old but very lively. It is not driven on the
roads because the pony is not shoed – perhaps a case of the cobbler’s children
going barefoot. We also got a tour of the barn and saw a new litter of
bunnies – more than cute – we didn’t question what lay in store for them in the
future.
A member of our group gave an account of how the
Amish came to P.E.I. She got to know Amish people back in Ontario due to
her love and experience with draught horses. The Amish were looking for
new opportunities to farm and the land in Southern Ontario was too
expensive. They tried Northern Ontario, but the Canadian Shield defeated
them as the land was too rocky to plow with horsepower. Our group member
has been visiting our Island province and was aware that there was good farmland
available at very reasonable prices. She assisted Amish families to
relocate to P.E.I. starting about ten years ago. There are now nineteen
families who are purchased existing farm some of which had fallen into a state
of disrepair and revitalized them.
I inquired of one of the Amish ladies about their
community life and worship life. I will delve into what I was told and
what I subsequently found out about the Amish religious life in the next
edition. I am very grateful to have had this introduction to the Amish
community. Our hosts were very gracious and welcoming and jovial and seem
to fully embrace their lives.
I believe they are truly blessed as I hope we can
all be on our journey.
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