Lehman's Country Life

Being a customer service representative, I get to talk to a lot of people from all over the country, and sometimes from various corners of the world. Not only do I get to chat with these people, I get to know them. There are several customers who know me by name and ask for me. I enjoy the conversations that we have, no matter how short they may be.

Something else about being in my position is learning about all these products. I am a “youngen” and have never had to use most of the products we sell. I have used several kitchen items because my mom would can food items from our garden and there are some garden tools that my parents have, but other than that I have not used many of these products. I have learned how they work just by working here. It has also inspired me to live like many of our customers: simply. Recently, I have found that people will often use our products to make other interesting things. Let me tell you about my new friend, Flossie.

As I sat in my little cubicle talking to different customers from all over the country, I get a call from east Tennessee, which is near and dear to my heart (I went to college in east TN). I couldn’t understand why this customer only wanted one box of the jar rubbers. Many people get several or at least one of each size. She only needed one box at that point. She began to tell me of the different things that she makes. She takes these jar rubbers and makes towel holders for in your kitchen. Interested in what they looked like, I asked her to describe them to me. They are essentially like the towels that button over the handle of the oven or fridge, except instead of buying all those “special made” towels, you can use any kitchen towel and hang in it. The jar rubbers are the ring that hold the towel.

I thought this was a neat idea (remember, I’m just a young one) not only because of the towel idea, but I like to crochet and would like to start to knit. She asked what color my kitchen was and said she would send a sample up to me. She sent me more than just those: she also sent me an apron for the dish soap bottle, and a wash rag. These are beautiful items and I must admit, she did a wonderful job on them! Thank you, Flossie, for the wonderful items! And for the wonderful conversation!

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We thought we would post some pictures of what it looks like here today (at left is the horse barn and field next to our building). Northeast Ohio’s getting some pretty white stuff, and most of the schools were closed today in anticipation of the late morning storm. But here at Lehman’s offices, we’re warm and cozy beside our blazing fireplace. I just made myself a cup of garden mint tea, grown and processed just a few miles from here by an Amish farmer and another local grower.

Despite the view out the window, we’re thinking spring. Our spring catalogs are now out (watch for one in your mailbox or call us to request one!), and we’ve just added a bunch of new, exciting spring products to our website. Here are some of our favorites:

Plastic Bag Dryer – OK, this one is MY personal favorite. I tested this product for Lehman’s and my husband and I absolutely loved it. In fact, since I brought the sample back to the office he has been complaining every day and asking me when I’m going to buy one. Reusing plastic bags is so easy and we have no idea how much money we have saved doing this – a LOT, I’m sure! If you already reuse your bags or want to start, you need this thing either way. Otherwise, every possible surface of your kitchen could be taken up with dripping bags!

Oak Wall Tree – One of our “head honchos” has this in his office. Performs the same function as a “hall tree” but takes up NO floor space. And, it’s handmade of solid oak by our local Amish woodworkers. Can’t beat the quality – it’s absolutely beautiful.

The Transpotter- A wonderful little transplanting trowel, tested and approved by our own certified Master Gardener. She has decades of experience and we rely on her when the opinion really counts. Enough said.

Let it snow!

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Last week, I visited the folks who make our cider presses deep in America’s Heartland. 82-year-old company owner Ray Stagg still works every day. Every press has his fingerprints on it, since he uses his expert carpentry skills to cut out the wooden components.

Ray is quick to point out that he only does this “between golf games”. This gives him a chance to mention that he can still golf his age. (And mourn the fact that, like his age, his score gets a little higher every year.)

Ray looks like and gets around like a man 20 years younger. The secret, he says, is keeping active, having a passion for life and, I suppose, drinking lots of unpasteurized apple cider.

He built his sprawling timber frame ranch house with his own hands some 30 years ago. Located in the hills of eastern Kansas down miles of dirt road, there’s little to distract him from building what is unquestionably the best cider press on the market.

Ray said that even getting groceries means five miles of mud or five miles of dust, depending on the season. There were two pick-up trucks at his ranch the day I visited. Between them, they were running on three spares. These roads are hard on cars. “But, I like the quiet,” Ray says, in a tone of voice that tells you it is unquestionably worth the effort to live out here.

He invented the “Apple Eater” apple grinder, that effortlessly turns apples into mush. Mashing the apples increases juice extraction by 60%. But, Ray’s design doesn’t grind or cut the seeds and stems, which would make the cider bitter.

Unable to find anyone who could make a laminate strong enough for the press frame, he designed a clamp to set the glue for the main beams under 20,000 pounds of pressure.

You can’t buy unpasteurized cider any more. To me, store bought cider just isn’t real. Fresh pressed cider has a full body and the kind of flavor that makes your mouth wake up. It’s “thicker” and “browner” than the pasteurized gruel and satisfies you in a way that store-bought cider can’t.

I make cider almost every year from my own apples. I’m convinced that when the apples and press are thoroughly washed beforehand, “raw” cider is safe. And, the flavor makes it all worthwhile!

Galen Lehman, President, Lehman’s

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As part of our new addition to our Kidron store, we’re displaying 100’s of the many of the antiques we’ve squireled away over the years. We also added a few.

This somehow led me to a guy, whose name (ironically) was Guy. Guy called me about eight times raving about his 6 foot millstone. We kept trying to make a time to meet and somehow couldn’t make connections. Until we were done, he practically became the proverbial millstone himself!

Here I am with the giant millstone. Sorry I didn’t smile. I was standing in ice cold water and I was worried about getting shot or (worse yet) getting bullet pockmarks in my precious millstone!

Meeting Guy meant a three hour trip during our busiest time of year, but I eventually carved out the time to meet him. Thus began the great adventure of finding the millstone.

I drove to the little town near Lake Erie where the stone had been dumped by its previous owner. Actually finding a place to meet involved another four cell phone calls, which went something like this:

Guy – “I’m on such-and-such exit on the interstate, where are you?”
Galen – “I just got off the exit after that one. Should I go to the north or south?”
Guy – “Just find a gas station and call me from there.”

Two minutes later:

Galen – “I happened to pass a quarry. Is that it?”
Guy – “Does it have giant stone slabs like stacked up like sheets of paper?”
Galen – “Yes, but there’s no sign. Shall I wait by the ’sheets’?”

Five minutes later:

Galen – “Hey, where is the millstone? Maybe I can go look at it while I’m waiting.”
Guy – “I’m on Main Street, where are you?”
Galen – “The stacks of stones I found were north of Main Street. Where are you?”
Guy – “Well, there must be two quarries. Come down to Main Street. I can’t tell you where the millstone is because it’s down this long lane behind this place and I don’t know the address. I just know how to drive there!”

When Guy and I finally got together in the center of town, he jumped in and we drove west a short distance before he said, very tentatively, “I think you turn right here.”

Then, it was (as we say in Ohio) “around back” of a place called Wylie’s Lounge, past two muddy tractor-trailer rigs parked haphazardly at odd angles, down a muddy lane (ignoring the huge “STOP – TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED” sign) and around a corner. Between a rusty backhoe and a tilted equipment shed stood a giant millstone. By that time, I was fearing for my life!

But, it was worth the trip just to find such an amazing relic!

Stop at our retail store and see the giant millstone sometime when you’re in Ohio. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do. And you won’t even have to remember the sinking feeling I had when I drove by the giant “STOP – TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED” sign!

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I am a local artist and will resume painting at Lehman’s during store hours during the month of March in the Buggy Barn. For those of you not familiar with this project the Buggy Barn at Lehman’s is an actual post and beam Amish Buggy Barn that was dismanteled and reconstructed for their multi-media/demonstration room inside the store. We are recreating the atmosphere of being inside an actual buggy barn by displaying various props, tools, gardening implements and other things commonly found in a buggy barn. My contribution is the addition of the lively painted farm animals! It has already become a tradtion for families to bring their kids to the store to see the farm animal murals and stop for a treat at the cafe while mom (or dad) shop! All ages will enjoy this unique exprience but I especially enjoy seeing the children’s reactions to the playful scenes on their level. I am thinking some cute, fuzzy barn kittens are needed as well as a pair of wooly twin lambs with their momma! I will be posting work in progress photos here regularly. I enjoy your input so stop by often to see it take shape. If you are in the store please stop by to say hi! You can let me know if I missed a spot! For more picutures click on the Mural link on this blog to see whats been painted already.

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I’m from New England, where “tradition” was pretty much every child’s first three-syllable word; and as far back as I can remember, there were certain things we always did around our house that bespoke the deepest part of winter – that time when the last of the holiday decorations had been put away, the snowstorms paid no attention to whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and daylight was that brief time between when the school bus picked everyone up and when it deposited us all back at home. The mornings were pink and mid-late afternoons were purple, and there were certain things we did and certain foods we ate that belonged solely to that time from mid-January to mid-March.
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By Melinda J Hill, CFCS, CFLE
Extension Educator Family and Consumer Sciences
OSU Extension, Wayne County, Ohio

It’s cold, it’s gray and sometimes winter seems like it will last forever. What smells better at the end of the day than something warm that greets you when you open the door? We all have our favorite soup recipes. Some have been passed down through the generations and others can be additional ingredients that supplement a canned soup.

When planning your meal, all you need to add to a thick wholesome soup or stew is a slice of whole grain bread or crackers, some fruit or salad and a glass of milk, and voila – you have a healthy, well-balanced meal.

Some soups are simple and can be made in the microwave or on the stovetop in a matter of minutes. Others like to simmer and blend flavors and work best in the crock pot or soup pot, cooking and tenderizing (and filling your house with tantalizing aromas) for hours.

There are two main types of soup: those made from some kind of stock, and cream-based soups. Stock soups are made with vegetables, meats, poultry or fish; these are generally lower in calories. Cream-based soups are made of milk, cream or yogurt as a large part of the liquid.
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When winter comes, a young woman’s fancy turns to… HEAT!! Nice, warm houses, cozy fires to cuddle up to, warm blankets to wrap in. But in this day and age, living that dream can be very expensive, what with the costs of gas, propane and electricity. Wood is the best, in my mind, for good, bone-soaking heat.

But in November of 2005, my husband Norm fell off a ladder and broke his neck. We decided that wood heat would not be the best for us. With Norm’s neck so sensitive to the lifting, chopping and carrying of wood, we needed to find something else to keep this old house warm. Our first year of owning (but only staying here for a week at a time) told us that we needed something extra or we would be bankrupt by the propane cost to keep the house even mildly comfortable.

Since wood, my first choice, was out, what was next? We went to a restaurant that was using a corn stove to heat the large dining room and felt it would be a possibility, and finally decided on the corn furnace that we now have running in our basement family room.
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People were flatter in the ’70s.  I’m not talking about left to right thinner or up ‘n’ down thinner.  This hasn’t got anything to do with pounds per square inch.  What I’m talking about is front to back thinner.  In a word – flatter.  I suspect that the Nixon administration might have had something to do with that but I can’t actually prove it.  Perhaps some future historian will publish a scholarly work explaining that the government surreptitiously added some chemical to our drinking water which unintentionally resulted in a “flatter” population and, rather obviously, nobody noticed anyone else was flatter because everybody was flatter.  Flatter and maybe shorter.  Be that as it may, in the interim, we’ll go with what we can prove using a yard stick and a level.

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