Lehman's Country Life

Last week, I blogged about why some people would like to join the Amish. This week, I will admit that I might be one of those people!

Years ago, I worked as a sponsor for our church’s high school youth group. Upon discovering that I knew how to milk goats, build a fence, use an oil lamp and other homesteading skills, the kids took to calling me “Amish-like.”

I was proud of that nickname. I figured it meant that I was fitting in. After all, I had my own street name just like they did.

Years later, my own children brought me back to earth by explaining to me that I was actually being made fun of. To this day, however, I take “Amish-like” as a title of honor.

Last week, I said that people became Amish because of faith or because of culture. There is possibly another reason. Someone recently told me that some
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This week a friend and I were talking about why people choose to be Amish. This is a complicated question. But, if you simplify it down to the broadest possible terms, there are mainly two reasons.

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Last week I did one of the toughest things I have to do all year. I pulled perfectly good fruit from most of my nine fruit trees and threw it out.

The tiny fruits, which are about 1/4 to 1/3 their final size, held the promise of future goodness. Even though they were still small, hard and sour, my mouth watered as I handled each one.

So, why would I do such a hard-hearted, mean-spirited and cruel thing?
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There is a big sign in the entrance of our Kidron store with a picture of my dad. It says, in part, “We believe in offering products made in the United States wherever possible. When we offer imported items, we choose the best quality we can find.”

This is not just something we say to sound good. We spend time every day, sometimes hours every day, hunting down USA-made products.

I will make this claim and stand by it with confidence: We have more USA
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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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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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This spring my Dad (store founder J.E. Lehman) and I planted 4,000 more hardwood seedlings in the farm fields around our home and warehouse. That makes 12,000 in the last three years. We’ve now reforested nearly 45 acres.

UPDATE! In October, 2009 we added 3500 more, raising the total to 33,500.

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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