An Amish man answered a knock on his door one morning. An electric company worker handed him a piece of paper stating that the electric company would like to run a power line through his pasture. The Amish man said, "No."

"Legally, that paper says we can." replied the worker.

As he turned and left returning to his co-workers in the field, the Amish man went to his barn and turned his bull into the pasture.

As the bull rumbled toward the workers in the field, the Amish man hollered, "Show HIM your paper!"

I doubt that the Bull would be too intrested in reading the paper, and the Farmer might get a little entertainment at least. :D :D :D

Lee L.

The bull will have a little fun too!
He gets to practice on moving targets.

I was raised 15 miles from an Amish community, Kalona, Iowa. The highway had very wide sides to allow their buggies to safely travel. Iowa law states you will attend school until you're 16 or eight grade. Since almost none of the Amish went on to college, they hired outside teachers to teach, my mother being one of them. Of the fifteen families represented in her school, none of them had electricity, and only two of them had battery operated radios....which were kept in the attics and seldom used because they were frowned on. They walked to school carrying their shoes around their necks so they didn't wear them out.....gravel roads are kinda hard on feet.

No newpaper or magazines so minimal insight into the outside world. My impression was they weren't very impressed with what they saw anyway. A major interface ocurred through the many bake sales when people came from miles around for the outstanding, truely made from scratch, pies/cookies/etc..

I can certainly picture the referenced farmer's reaction happening.

Dan

The Amish are buying up the farms within a few miles of mine in Pennsylvania. "Pennsylvania dutch" is still a common "second language" in the area. Although not in the area a generation ago, almost a third of the vendors at the local weekly farmer's market are now Amish selling produce and baked goods. The ones I've dealt with have a better understanding of business math from their 8 years of their school than most graduates from public schools.

Some are skilled tradesmen, (I.ve contracted with them for remodeling and reroofing), but are somewhat difficult to communicate with; as their phones are outside of their houses and one needs to leave a message for them to return the call in order to talk to them. One of my relatives sold their farm to the Amish and the first thing they did was remove the electricity from the house. An Amish shoe shop, from which I've purchased hunting boots, has gas lights and a phone, but no electric cash register. They calculate the bill by hand and keep their inventory records on 3x5 cards. They also have a list of "outsiders" willing to provide "taxi service" prominently posted by the door. The Amish still use their buggies as primary transportation, but will readily ride cars driven by "outsiders". In this case the Amish are the "newcomers", while some of the "outsiders" have been there for 8 or 10 generations.

When I was on the farm in north central MT we were neighbors to a Hutterite colony. They've got all the modern farm eqipment, pickups etc. they have electicity and one phone but no tv or radio that I could see. You could only talk to one of the "elders" if you needed to talk about a fence problem or something like that. They speak some sort of German dialect amongst themselves.

Irv S: what part of Colorado ?

Irv S: what part of Colorado ?

Arvada. In the now built up area between Denver (where I worked after I first came to Colorado) and Boulder (where I worked until I retired). I now avoid both as much as possible.

How are Amish and guns related?

Ban on the guns. They use the
(mestvork? =Riek) I dunno the u.s. word.
A fork to lift dirt....?


Ciaoo

Pitchfork?

Irv S: I been there once, couldn't wait to leave :D . Moved to Craid in 97, realy like it here. As much like MT as you can get without being there.

Harshok,

As Mike says, probably a pitchfork, a rather common tool on our farms. And some city slickers might think it's being used to lift dirt, but that asin't dirt, my friend. Been called lots of things, but not dirt.

Dan

Harshok,

As Mike says, probably a pitchfork, a rather common tool on our farms. And some city slickers might think it's being used to lift dirt, but that asin't dirt, my friend. Been called lots of things, but not dirt.
Dan

Sorry Dan..
I am not a farmer. and I don't spread manure all over place,
so I do not use the pitchfork therefore.

But as my garden soil is quite sticky (clayground) the pitchfork
works truly very well. In any case it works better than the
regular shovel? It give less backpain and more clay moved.
Odd, but true.

As fertiliser I use dried cow**** :cool:
In handy beads, and toss them over the garden just before rain starts...

Ciaooo

P.s. So city slick......??? village slicker then OK ??? :D

Sorry Dan..
I am not a farmer. and I don't spread manure all over place,
so I do not use the pitchfork therefore.

But as my garden soil is quite sticky (clayground) the pitchfork
works truly very well. In any case it works better than the
regular shovel? It give less backpain and more clay moved.
Odd, but true.

As fertiliser I use dried cow**** :cool:
In handy beads, and toss them over the garden just before rain starts...

Ciaooo

P.s. So city slick......??? village slicker then OK ??? :D

Hey, you recognize the good stuff for what it is and that's all that counts.....along with not steping in it and washing your hands before you eat.

Dan

Gardening and reloading have e few things in common.

Washing hands is one of them.

Powder being a nice fertiliser only a bit expensive is another :D

Gardening and reloading have e few things in common.

Washing hands is one of them.

Powder being a nice fertiliser only a bit expensive is another :D

Our mothers would be so proud of us, wouldn't they?

Dan

Well actually NOT I guess.
If she knew how expensive the shooting was
she wouldn't approve.

So I do not tell her abt costs.... ;)
only abt the good sports of it :D

How are Amish and guns related?

Ban on the guns. They use the
(mestvork? =Riek) I dunno the u.s. word.
A fork to lift dirt....?


Ciaoo

In my county the Amish are among the top deer & turkey takers during the fall shotgun hunt. They put on some hardcore drives....20-30 men & boys. They also have a tendency to walk right past posted signs. It's common to hear local hunters say things like "Amish can't read.......Posted Signs". My mother's closest friend is amish and I grew up around them. A very common birthday or Christmas gift for a young amish boy is his first shotgun. They have wonderful values and their children are so well behaved & polite. They are alot like Muslims in that their religious beliefs totally rule their way of life and if they stray from their "rules" there is a good chance of being "shunned" (outcasted).

Thanks You Bet Shiraz(grapes?)

Just wondering abt it, because they do not use
technical means.....(cars/electricity etc.)

But guns are allowed. I find it bit strange.
rejecting other things...

RGDS

i am about 45 min from Lancaster PA and any thing down there that has amish attached to its name is a big hit, whether it is run by the amish or not, the amish really do have quite a racket going, they know that people go nuts for their products so they have no shame about charging a premium price for them. Most of it isn't anything that your grandparents or great grandparents wouldn;t have made years ago, but since people would rather buy things commercially than make them for themselves, the amish products are at a premium for their hand-craftedness.
------
It is funny to see some of the more modern sects driving around on their tractors with steel tires, I have talked to other farmers and they say their tractors don't last for anything because of the abuse they take from the steel tires

Sorry Dan..
I am not a farmer. and I don't spread manure all over place,
so I do not use the pitchfork therefore.

But as my garden soil is quite sticky (clayground) the pitchfork
works truly very well. In any case it works better than the
regular shovel? It give less backpain and more clay moved.
Odd, but true.

As fertiliser I use dried cow**** :cool:
In handy beads, and toss them over the garden just before rain starts...

Ciaooo

P.s. So city slick......??? village slicker then OK ??? :D


You might be using what I would call a potato fork. It has shorter, sturdier tines than a pitchfork. Normally a pitchfork has very long thin tines that would bend easily if you tried to lift much more than a small cow pattie & old dried hay.

A potato fork would more resemble a heavy shovel with slots....... and are sometimes used to dig up potatoes, as you might guess.

Enough farming lessons for the day, I suppose!

Mike,
Is a "potato fork" anything like what an Arkansas hillbilly would call a "tater fork"? :D
Curtis.....Arkansas hillbilly

Yup... tater fork... same thing!!!! :D

Thanks You Bet Shiraz(grapes?)

Wine, See?
<--
;)

Wine, See?
<--
;)

With explanation.
(I'm not the brightest kid!) ;)

Didn't even catch the turn of phrase the first time around. (smacks head)

That would be youbetsyrah for our members from Oz and the Old World.

and Youbetwhitezin for the amateurs!
:p :p :p :p :p ;)