Our first view of an Amish farm
This farm grows a variety of fruits and veggies, and instead of tractors they use horses.
Greenhouse
This greenhouse is heated during the winter with wood and vegetable oil.
An innovative way to pick tomatoes
The whole contraption is connected to a beam going through the entire hoophouse. As the farmer goes along, he pulls it with him. That way he doesn't have to carry any of the boxes. Also it allows him to sort the tomatoes as he goes.
Hoophouse
The farmer told us he tries to reserve his work in his hoophouses for rainy days. As a result, sometimes the hoophouses go a while without weeding. He uses drip irrigation in his hoophouse, using a generator to bring in water from a nearby river.
Lettuce
More lettuce
I don't like eating this stuff so much, but man is it beautiful to see it growing! I showed this pic to the farmer because I thought it was so pretty and he replied "I see this every day!"
Celery
We got to eat fresh-picked celery. Mmm! I'd never seen what it looks like growing before.
Brussel sprouts
Another plant I hadn't seen growing before. The sprouts themselves are teeny tiny on this plant. They need a few more weeks.
Milk bottling machine
Next, it was off to a dairy farm. This machine was invented and made by another Amish man. It was operated partially using a generator (I think) and partially with a foot pedal that moves the bottles along. The farmer did not feel that this machine was necessary but the health inspectors did, so he uses the machine.
Dutch belted cows
Here are the cows responsible for the raw milk I spent all week enjoying. They are a heritage breed, so they were never adapted to a nasty, industrialized diet. They do best on pasture, and they loooove their "salad bar" of different types of grasses and clovers.
Turkeys
Like most American turkeys, these are broad breasted whites. But these broad breasted whites are a LOT happier than most turkeys. The farmer does rotational grazing, allowing the turkeys and cows to eat sections of the grass (and poop all over it) at various intervals. The turkeys diet is about 50% grass, 50% grain. |
