Lehman’s Country Life

At Lehman’s, we’ve been hearing local folks gossip about how the Indiana Amish have been hurt by the economy. This morning, an article in the Wall Street Journal confirmed our fears.

According to the article, they were drawn into the economic boom by high pay in the RV factories of northern Indiana. Instead of following their Dads into the fields, they followed the money. In the local slang, they became what is known
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Scenes like this may be rare before too long.

Good arable farmland is disappearing. All you have to do is look at the suburban sprawl that has gobbled up all the farmland around every major city in America to know that this is true. But, it’s not just an American problem. It’s a worldwide problem.

- Current food reserves are the lowest they have been in 40-years
- The amount of cropland per person has fallen from 1.1 acres (in 1960) to less than 6/10 of an acre today.
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Everybody these day seems to think that “everything is easier on the internet”. Some things are. But not everything.

The internet is great for gathering people of similar interests but living miles apart into “communities” of similar interest. We’ve tried to do this with this site. It allows bakers to talk with other bakers, homesteaders to trade advice, and animal lovers to share ideas. I’ve used CountryLife myself, both giving and receiving advice. I enjoyed it and learned from it.

The internet can occasionally do things that even look miraculous to me. For
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Am I the only one that thinks animals are taking over?

Yesterday, my daughter found this painted turtle in the yard. I released him in our farm pond.

20 years ago I told my Dad I thought I saw a fox in the woods. He said it couldn’t be because they were hunted out. Since then, I’ve seen four or five!

Yesterday afternoon, a buck with felt-covered antlers strolled by a few hundred feet from our house. I walked outside with my rifle and shot into the ground at its feet 3-4 times. (It not being deer season, I couldn’t legally do much else.) He stood stock still and stared at me as if to say, “It’s not deer season, you stupid human.”

Here’s a list of the animals we’ve sighted in the last few years:

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Galen with freshly planted black walnut

In the 20 years or so since Dad first started this project, we’ve planted some 30,000 trees. Dad does most of the work, when he’s not talking to customers at our Kidron store. Just today, at the age of 80, he was out among the latest batch of seedlings trying to figure out a way to keep the mice from chewing on the bark.

200 years ago, when the first settlers arrived here, the land was covered with hardwood trees. It is said that you could walk from one side of Ohio to the other without seeing the sky.

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We’re constantly looking for new product ideas. Funny how they find us sometimes!

Last year I attended and spoke at the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) convention in Columbus, OH. MEDA is a charity that was founded by family business owners like me. Pioneers in micro-finance to the poor, they also provide advice to entrepreneurs.

For the first time, several Amish business owners attended. As is a common practice among the Amish, they hired a driver and van to get from the Kidron area to Columbus.

Unfortunately, one of the women missed the van because she was attending a
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We want your new product ideas, dead or alive.

Some of the coolest and most practical items we carry came from your suggestions! Best of all, we will give you a $100 gift certificate for every idea we use!

Here are some great ideas that customer sent us:

Diamant Grain Mill - The world’s best grain mill! (Special thanks to Peter V)

Water distiller - Safe, pure water without electricity. (Special thanks to Kristina F)

Victorian Sewing Bird - Your third hand, it holds pins and fabric for you. (Special thanks to Carol P)

Steam Canner - Faster, lower temperature canning! (Special thanks to Karen L)

Waspinator - Banish wasps from your yard! (Special thanks to Kristin R)

There are hundreds more on our website. We’re grateful for your help! We’ll take all the ideas we can get.

We’re willing to try most any idea. What doesn’t make the cut? Only the most far out ideas. Here’s one that didn’t:

The main thing that kept us from trying this idea, outlandish as it may seem to some, was that it was not a “ready to go” manufactured item. Sorry to be skeptical, but I’d like to test the prototype before I bet on it.

For the “insider’s secrets” on how to choose a winning product idea, click on “Read the rest of this post”, below!

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Last year I blogged about hypnotizing chickens. Recently, I visited a friend with a small homestead farm. As the 10 or so guys in our group sat around the kitchen table, I found myself talking about the phenomena. Guys being guys, I was immediately challenged.

“Prove it!” they said.

Little did they know that one of them would soon be in a trance.

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It’s time to prune your fruit trees again, if you want large and healthy fruit. In fact, time is already running out if you live in planting zones numbered six or above.

Here’s some tips:

- Start by cutting off every branch that grows straight up. They seldom bear fruit.
- Now that you can see into the overall health of the tree, remove anything that shows signs of disease, missing bark or is dead.
- Next, remove every branch that grows toward the center of the tree.
- Finally, remove any branches that are left that cross the path of another branch.

I grow dwarf trees. I intend to pick without a ladder, so I remove every branch whose tip I can’t reach.

On my more mature trees, I remove every branch within a foot or two of the center of the tree. This allows lots of sun into the center of the tree.

How to cut? First, use a good pruner with sharp cutting edges. Cut about 1/4″ above bud points or close to the trunk. Always cut at an angle.

A well pruned tree will always bear fruit. I inherited my love of fruit trees from my Dad, who got it from his Dad. Grandpa’s pruning advice was simple. Prune until you think you’re going to kill the tree. Then, prune some more.

Like shedding the bad habits of life, it’s not always easy. But, ending a bad always makes us a better person.

Pictured with me in the photo is my trusty garden cart. I’ve owned that cart for over 20 years. I’ve hauled firewood through a foot of snow. Moved fill dirt from one side of my lot to the other. Carried tons of manure out of the barn with very little effort. I did all these things without starting the tractor or breaking my back. It’s a great piece of equipment I heartily recommend for any size lot! Click here for more information.

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With spring slowly coming, I’ve started thinking about planting, bringing on fresh herd of steers and the rest of the summer chores on my little farm. My Dad, after over 50 years on the job, still works alongside me at Lehman’s. He likes to tease me about being a “telephone farmer.” What he means by this is that every time I have a big job I call someone on the phone to help me.

I admit that it’s true: Most of the big jobs (like baling hay, for example) involve a phone call. I just don’t have time to make hay the old fashioned way, as much as I would like to. So, instead, I call a friend to bring his equipment from the neighboring farm.

I spend most of my day, after all, behind a desk where I spend hours on important tasks like writing for this blog!

The fact that I’m not a “real” farmer is underlined by the fact that what I wear to farm in is old dress clothes from work. This includes dress khaki’s with frayed hems and dress shirts with faded colors. I guess that makes me the best dressed farmer in Ohio!

Whether I’m wearing old dress clothes or a farmers overalls, I’m looking forward to the real pleasure of hard physical work to keep a spring in my step this Spring. After a day of working at a desk, there’s few things more pleasurable than a layer of good, healthy sweat and feeling the burn of fresh calousses forming on my hands!

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