“Springtime On The Farm”

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life.

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Friday, April 5, 2024

Old Windmill Farm garden

“Springtime On The Farm”

Its Springtime here on the farm. That means it’s time to clip the mules’ wintertime manes and tails, also time to give tetanus vaccines to the horses, mules, and ponies.

As you can see Jack in the photo looks cleaned up versus shaggy with his long mane. The mules have a hairstyle like a donkey, short cropped mane and short tail. Clipping the mules also helps to shed a lot of heat trapped under the thick winter coat. The warm weather makes them sweat a lot more in the warmer days.

The mules keep the thick coat till end of June at times. Stevie and Sara ages (6 and 9) will take a handful of tail hair and hold it to their chin and  pretend it’s a long beard. I bought the clippers at my grandfather’s auction. Usually an auction for the immediate family (cousins, aunts and uncles) is held after both grandparents pass away or when they downsize to a smaller house.

One of the sheep and goats had twins here on the farm. The mother rejected them so now we are bottle feeding the babies. The children really enjoy helping with that. We need to mix the milk replacer powder in hot water. The baby lambs are amazing how they get very attached to whoever feeds and cares for them. They stay right by my side when strangers are around, much more so than the goats. There is a Bible lesson in that. The Lord Jesus said,”My sheep know my voice”.

Our daughter Sadie is a teacher at one of the local Amish schools. For an Easter gift she gave her 30 students each a baby chick. I ordered the chicks from Hoffman’s hatchery in Gratz, Pa. They were delivered by mail as day-old chicks. We ordered 40 red Rhode Island Red chicks which are brown egg layers. Her school came to the farm for an egg hunt and to enjoy time outside the classroom. She teaches grades one to eight.

The grass in the fields and pasture is green and ready to support the cattle and horses. The animals can be on the pasture for only half day at first because it’s very rich in protein and the animals love it. They can get colic and the horses can founder which can destroy their hooves. (Founder happens if a horse eats too much grain or fresh grass all at once. It overheats the horses’ body, especially the hooves and they can have lifelong lame issues. If it is detected early enough the farmer will take the horse to the creek and have the horse stand in the cool water to keep the hooves cool.) 

We have planted potatoes, carrots, beets and radishes. The vegetables are up just a bit. The same height as the weeds. Every time it rains we need to till the garden and pull the weeds so the weeds can not grow ahead of the veggies. Next week we’ll plant corn. It is a bit early but worth taking a chance to get early sweet corn. We will also plant pop corn. 

Here’s a wise saying: Give a man a bag of popcorn. He can pop it and enjoy a bowl of popcorn. Or he can plant it and have enough popcorn for a year.

We also plant beans, onions, broccoli plus more once it warms up a bit. Nothing like the scent of freshly plowed or turned soil. Besides freshly cut hay.

We expect cows to freshen in the spring as well. We are very excited. We have them serviced to a Mini Highland cattle bull. This was administered artificially by the vet. Sent here frozen from Idaho. Due dates in May, July and August. 2 Horses due in April and July.

The beautiful promise is: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22). Of course we expect to see it  that way every season. That is called faith. We plant a seed and expect it to grow and multiply many times.

From our family to yours,

The Lapps

Bringing a baby pig home from market

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Farm news: As spring approaches we are open for limited tours which must be reserved. We will be opening back up with a regular schedule in several weeks. Today (March 16) we expect a very busy day due to the nice weather!

Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

“Butchering On The Farm”

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life.

A new message is posted about every 2-3 weeks (depending on our busyness sometimes more frequently)

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Saturday, March 16, 2024

Old Windmill Farm beef and pork ready for processing

“Butchering On The Farm”

“Winter time beef and pork preserving”

Wintertime is a less busy time for most Amish farmers. There is no planting or harvesting. But it’s always a busy time for the local butcher shops providing processing of mainly beef and pork for customers that have a beef on pasture with the rest of the herd or a hog that is raised for providing bacon, ham and sausages for the family.

Beef is usually 2 years old and finished with grain for the last 6 weeks for marbling of the meat. Hogs are around 1 year old. My grandparents did their own processing, smoked and salted the hams and other meat in the smoke house using maple or cherry wood to preserve it.

The hams are hung it in the attic in the cold for the winter. When the haus frau (Amish housewife) needs ham, bacon, bologna, or sausage she would send one of the children to the attic to get the meat she needs. The meat would keep till April or May to use with the fresh potatoes or green beans.

Myself, Haus dawdy, (Amish husband) and our second son did a large beef and a few small pigs here in February. The beef and pigs were born on the farm and taken care of by the family. Taking care of the veterinary needs includes castrating when young and worming periodically.

The pigs are good to have on the farm to feed less than perfect corn or other feed. Also, pigs favorite food is milk. Our pigs get skim milk that is left after taking off the cream for making butter. The pigs also get fed whole corn.

Horses and cows are very vulnerable to getting botulism when fed moldy feed or corn.

A question farm guests often ask us is do we get attached to the animals? We do in a sense but if you are a farmer you realize one of the reasons animals are taken care of well is because they are a part of the food chain. You always have a grateful feeling towards the Lord when you preserve your own meat because it blesses and provides for the family.

The beef weighed around 1,400 pounds (live weight). We used the skid steer to maneuver and hang up for aging. Left to age for 10 days in the cold temps in the tobacco barn. Also the hogs were left in the tobacco barn to age. We removed the hides and  the entrails to prepare the meat for aging.

One of the daughters and I (haus dawdy) deboned the meat from the hogs and put it in containers for the butcher. We put the hams aside for smoking and processing. The lard is rendered and used for baking and cooking as well as waterproofing for leather boots. Lard is hog fat. Tallow is beef fat. Tallow was traditionally used for making candles.

The hogs were too small to get bacon from but fresh sausage, scrapple and smoked ham steaks will be made.

The beef will provide steaks, dried beef, chipped steak, kielbasa, sweet bologna, ground beef, burger patties and a small amount of beef jerky as a treat. Ground beef will be made into meat balls and preserved in mason jars, as well as ground beef and sausage preserved and stored in the can cellar for special  dishes or breakfast. The mason jars are stored in the can cellar in the cool temperature below 70 degrees. Otherwise the jars will get too warm and lose the seal, therefore the contents will spoil.   

Our daughter (Naomi) and I picked up the meat in 2 buggies. We left the farm at 6:30 AM for the butcher shop which is around 2.5 miles from here.

After the butcher was finished my wife and daughter canned (in mason jars) 160 quarts of meat. For the rope sausage, it gets curled into jar. Ground beef and loose sausage is pressed firmly into the jar with 1 teaspoon of fine ground rock salt on top. Each jar has a lid and ring to seal it. Jars are then placed in the square metal canners with cold water up to neck of jar. If contents are cold, cold water is put in the canner. If contents are hot, hot water is put in the canner. Otherwise the jars break.

For meat, the water needs to boil for 3 hours till it is done and then the jars are taken out of the canner. As the jars cool down, the vacuum seals the jars making a pinging sound as lids are sealed. The hausfrau (wife) checks the jars to make sure they are sealed. The ones not sealed need to be put through the process again. As seen in the photo, the white in the jars is the fat or lard that is cooked out of the meat as it is heated in the canning process. In our circles we call lard (fat) and it is stored in the cellar. As the joke goes: “the haus frau went down to the cellar to get fat”.

Steaks and roasts are put in the freezer. Sweet bologna, hams and dried beef need to be salted and smoked at the butcher shop. The butcher uses cherry or maple wood to smoke it. Smoking and salting gives flavor and it also preserves the meat. 

As a farmer in the dairy business we did not often have opportunity to have young beef because we always seemed to have a cow in misfortune. Once we had a cow struck by lightning and killed in the barn while we were doing milking. The cow was 15 feet away from me. Gave me lots of respect and Godly fear for the Creator. We had lots of ground beef, bologna, chipped steak and dried beef from that cow. Steaks tend to not be tender from older cows. More than once, we had a steer on the pasture for our own beef but ended up sending to the auction block for much needed cash to pay bills. 

Seeds have been planted in the garden. Robins and song sparrows are serenading in the morning before the sun is up. Spring is right around the corner!

God’s blessings and best wishes from our family to yours.  

The Lapps

Examining the beef and pork on the wagon prior to the trip to the butcher shop.

The jars are placed in the large canners to boil over the stove.

Canned meat in the pantry ready to eat.
The white on the top is the fat or lard.

Send an email to us

Farm news: As spring approaches we are open for limited tours which must be reserved. We will be opening back up with a regular schedule in several weeks. Today (March 16) we expect a very busy day due to the nice weather!

Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

“Together We Can”

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life.

A new message is posted about every 2-3 weeks (depending on our busyness sometimes more frequently)

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Saturday, March 2, 2024

Mennonite Central Committee mobile canning unit

“Together We Can”

Today we want to go “off the farm” to share about a type of cooperative Amish “almsgiving”.

In the month of February the mobile cannery unit provided by Mennonite Central Committee is in Lancaster County for two weeks at 2 different locations. The different Amish church districts make a round of donations offered by all households. The leader in each church district will summon one of the men to go around the district to make a free will offering collection at each house (30 to 40 families in each district).

Each of the men will have a turn in making collections as there are many free will collections for different projects throughout the year. The money collected will pay for turkey thighs that are cut up at  local butcher shop in preparation for the canning process described below. The cans are then shipped around the world for humanitarian help for the poor and displaced.

My wife and I were picked up at home by the driver at 1:45pm who picked up 6 other people on the way to the cannery. Our shift was 3:00 till 8:00. The ladies were making comforts with comfort tops supplied by families making the comfort tops with leftover fabric from sewing clothing. The ladies also helped with the canning as well

Twenty to thirty men are there to help cut meat into 1 to 2 inch cubes, 2 men gather the cubed meat, 3 men or boys weigh the meat on small scales: weight is 14.32 to 14.78 oz. each, one person seals the tin can with a commercial canner. The cans are put in large basket holding 140 cans of meat. The baskets are put in large pressure canners put under cooking pressure for a certain amount of time at a certain temperature.

Then the cans are put in cold water to cool down and then go to a table and are dried off with dish towels. The local Amish ladies take the towels home to wash and bring back next day. Labels are printed with the words “In the name of Christ”.

2 older men will be sitting on chairs and stamping the address of the local butcher shop, putting on a stack. 2 people apply glue to the labels with a paint brush. 5 or 6 volunteers glue the labels onto cans. Each can is printed with expiration date 3 years after canning date and also batch number for quality control enforced by USDA. Each batch has a sample to test for bacteria and such.

My job was to stack the cans in boxes, 24 boxes per box. Every box I put on a smiley face on top of some cans. Thinking someone will open the can that is maybe in need of encouragement in a setting of war-torn country or displaced situation. In our shift of 5 hours 2,240 cans of meat were prepared to be sent all around the world. There are a total of 3 shifts a day, 5:00 to 10:00am, 10:00to 3:00, 3:00 to 8:00. The canners will going till midnight. The cans are  cooled off for the morning shift to begin applying labels and packing.                

The whole project is all done by volunteer labor, even the canner boys volunteer with the mobile cannery commit to 2 years traveling across the country and Canada to various Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite communities. This is done from Nov. to March when the coldest time of year to keep the meat cold. Every day an inspector from USDA is present to keep tabs on things.

We are blessed beyond measure and we need to bless others in any way possible.

From our family to yours.  

The Lapps

Check out this site for more details on the mobile canning unit.

Group of men in canning line.

The hats and coats indicate the volunteers in this project!

The canned meat is shipped all over the world.

Send an email to us

Farm news: Due to weather we are open only for limited tours which must be reserved. We will be opening back up with a regular schedule this spring!

Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

“Winter On The Farm”

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life.

A new message is posted about every 2-3 weeks (depending on our busyness sometimes more frequently)

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Saturday, February 17, 2024

Going to school on the horse-drawn sleigh

“Winter On The Farm”

Here at Old Windmill Farm, we have been enjoying the winter. This week we had two snow storms. When below freezing we need to drain the pipes every evening in the barn to keep them from freezing. One night we had 8 degrees which is very cold here. Jack Frost has been here and displaying his beautiful artwork on the window panes in the barn.

When very cold we move most of the animals into the barn for their sake and also to get additional heat from the horses and the cows body heat and breath. Lizzy took the grain scoop to the sheep pasture to lead them to the barn with the irresistible grain. They came running after her like she was the good shepherd. The animals eat lots of hay and grain these days because there is no pasture till spring. 24 pounds of grain and 15 pounds of hay plus some straw is for adult horses and cows.    

The children have a bit of trudge thru the snow to go to school. One of the girls has Lyme’s and she gets tired quicker so we took the children to school in the sleigh for a week. It takes a good horse that is willing to pull thru the snow. It brings memories of my grandmother who always enjoyed the snow with her sleigh. The roads are cleared quickly with big machinery, so we use the sleigh when possible.

Also the children enjoy the snow at school with a big hill behind the school yard. They all take their sleds to school to use at lunch recess which is 1 hour. Of course it is a challenge who will go the farthest and always try to beat the farthest mark.  It’s good to be competitive and always strive to do your best. Snow is called poor farmer’s fertilizer since it is rich in sulfur and captures nitrogen from the air.

We had 2 baby lambs born on the farm in December as well as 1 litter of baby pigs (7). 2 broods of chicks hatched out  weeks ago to make a total of 21 chicks. It is OK to have the births on the farm in the winter but we need to be prepared. The pigs need a few days of heat lamp to get started. Afterward they lay against the mother pig for heat. The piglets are ready to be weaned within 3 to 4  weeks.  We needed to take the one goat, Sweety, to the vet hospital to have a c-section to have her kids. Broke our heart, it was complicated and her labor not progressing. So we called the farm vet and he recommended we take to her to the hospital. She was put under anesthesia and surgery was administered. We saved Sweety but the 2 kids were stillborn.

We had five tons of coal delivered in the fall to heat the house. The coal is stored in the barn since we don’t have space in the basement for the coal bin. Once a day one of the boys brings in two 5 gallon buckets of coal to the house. The coal stove needs to be tended in the morning and evening. Very cold days need to be tended 3 times a day. The ashes are put in a metal wheelbarrow. When the wheelbarrow is full, it goes out to the compost pile where it will be spread on the fields with the compost. The coal ashes are high in zinc, which is good for the soil in moderation. Winters here are mostly mild and of course unpredictable.

Lesson on hot coal: coal is a wonderful source of heat. However, one lump or piece of coal will not burn if taken out of the red hot bed of coal by itself. The fire will go out. It needs to be part of a bed of red hot coal to burn efficiently. Similar to being part of a community and being part of the brotherhood.     

From our family to yours.  

The Lapps

Leading sheep to the barn on the Old Windmill Farm during this week’s snow storm.

Our garden shed covered with snow during this week’s storm

Send an email to us

Farm news: Due to weather we are open only for limited tours which must be reserved. We will be opening back up with a regular schedule this spring!

Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

Amish Church Service

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life. A new message is posted ever 2-3 weeks (that’s the goal!)

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Friday, February 9, 2024

Greetings from Old Windmill Farm. We hosted church services here on the farm in our house this last Sunday (2/4/24). We thought our farm guests might like to learn about our customs in hosting a church service. Our services are held in the homes of members (or depending upon weather in the barn) and we meet every two weeks.

There is always lots of preparation work to be done as we spruce up the place. We purchased 23 tons of gravel to spread on the driveway, delivered by a dump truck and spread by the driver, around an inch or a little more gravel. The gravel is called pea gravel.

The compost is cleaned out of the horse stalls and piled on the compost pile where it will ferment and compost into rich fertilizer for the fields and gardens.

My wife had a surprise as her 2 sisters showed up here and surprised her on Friday morning to help bake the pies. Bringing their rolling pins and aprons they had baked 42 pies by 1:30. These are apple pies and apple snitz pies. Apple snitz is made from dried apples. The day before one of her best friends that lives over the hill from here had told her she will help with the pie filling making around 3 gallons each of apple and apple snitz pie filling. The pies are baked at 350 degrees for 60 min.

For the service we had around 30 horses here. The haus dawdy (father) and sons greet the families as they arrive, help unhitch the horses from the buggies. The  father or son(s) lead the horse to the barn and offer the horse water from the big water trough. The horses are also fed grain and hay.

The men and women file into the house by age. Oldest first. The ministers, older men and women sit in folding chairs as well as visiting folks from other districts. Families with small children will not take chairs but will sit on the pine benches with their small children under 9 years old. A father or mother can have 3 children and the other spouse can have 2 or 3 children by their side. Of course if the small babies get cranky the mothers will take them upstairs and rock them and put them in bed when fallen asleep. One of the other mothers will bring the baby down and hand to the baby’s mom when awakes. The boys and girls 9 years and up go with the boys and girls groups. Of course they are expected to be quiet and attentive.

The ladies bring the other food for the noon meal. It is rather a sweet meal of pies, bread with peanut butter spread and cup cheese, pickled red beets, pickles, seasoned pretzels and coffee. You always try both pies plus everything else.

The haus frau (wife) will expect some compliments on her recipes. As the families head homes afterward the husbands and wives will be discussing the sermon and pointers they appreciated, how good the pies were or the pie crust was very good and baked to perfection. Some families  are known for their excellent baking.    

The sermon was based on the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7 of Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most read and memorized portions of the Bible in the Amish community. It is full of life lessons such as loving your enemy, turning the other cheek, denying your flesh and more. The children are rewarded as they memorize Mathew 5 to 7.

The service will last 3 hours with German hymns and preaching in German. Praying in silence one time and praying from recited prayer by the minister.  

After the service and meal is a time of conversation about things in the neighborhood, milk prices, crops or politics.

Next the neighbors will host the service in 2 weeks. We have Sunday School with the family at home studying the Scriptures written for the scheduled teaching at our next service in  2 weeks.

From our family to yours.  

The Lapps

Pies made for an Amish church gathering.

We gather every other week for a church service in a home rotating from house to house throughout the year. Every service is followed by a meal shared together with the host family making pies. For the gathering we made a total of 42 pies!

Pictured is the table made with 3 benches.

A page from an English/German Bible

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Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

Introduction

This blog features happenings on the Old Windmill Farm in Lancaster County, PA and a glimpse into the Amish way of life. A new message is posted ever 2-3 weeks (that’s the goal!)

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Friday, January 26, 2024

“Introduction”

We are the fourth generation of the Lapp family to live on the farm here in Lancaster County, PA purchased by my great grandparents.

My grandparents raised some 150 chickens for meat and had 5 acres in tobacco and 34 dairy cows, plus the adolescent cows on the farm to replace the older ones. My father went into dairy only which worked well for some 20 years.

In 2007 my wife Anna Ruth and I resumed the dairy operation and did so for over 10 years until we opened the Old Windmill Farm to guests to demonstrate and explain a working farm. A working farm is very interesting to visit with different animals and different care for the animals as well. We as farmers have branched out and invited guests from around the world to visit our farm. We are Old Order Amish. We can all learn from each other and we have found many are interested in our way of life.

Now farms are very specialized many producing just one commodity specializing in mass producing and doing it well and economically. But here at the Old Windmill Farm we seek to demonstrate farming as it was many years ago.

We now offer farm tours which involves a short version of life on the farm, like milking a cow, bottle feeding baby cows, gathering eggs, holding baby animals, tending the garden and more.

We have 7 children ages 20 years old to 6 years old, 4 girls and 3 boys. We are blessed and the Lord always provides.

In this blog we want to share happenings on the farm as well as a glimpse into our way of life.

From our family to yours.  

The Lapps

Send an email to us

Jesse Lapp

262 Paradise Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
US

717-687-7929
Old Windmill Farm
https://www.oldwindmillfarm.com

Amish Hockey

Here at Old Windmill Farm we enjoy real winter. Had freezing temps for a few days below 20 degrees at night which we need to freeze the ponds well. Need at least 3 inches of ice to skate on safely. Here in Amish country it is very discouraging to use public avenues to play hockey and other sports. We are not comfortable with the youth and children getting used to using arenas and such. It removes the contentment of using homemade contraptions to keep the puck from getting lost in the farm pond bank and using a pair of boots to mark the goal, maybe 4 to 5ft. wide.

Part of the mentality in the Amish culture is very competitive and try your best at whatever you do. (Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men.) The hockey games can get very aggressive and are enjoyed by all ages. Sometimes a few ruffled feathers but we understand it is a game to be enjoyed with the best talents. Mostly the men and boys get very involved in the hockey games. To pick teams, everyone throws in the hockey sticks and then divide the sticks on different piles. Wherever your stick lands with other players sticks, is then the team.

The girls enjoy skating outside the hockey rink. Often times the farmer’s wife and or daughters will offer hot chocolate, coffee and goodies like sandwiches, cookies for sale or for a donation.Sometimes it goes as a fundraiser for an unfortunate family who has a family member in the hospital with ongoing expenses. Or the farmer will use it for expenses to keep the rink and pond in shape. It takes lots of energy to play hockey.

Heading out to play hockey!