I spent a couple days at the Amish Fair & Auction in Scottsville, KY. This was the 27th annual edition, and it was well organized and very, very informative.
That the Oil Age is coming to a close is approaching "boring" as a discussion topic. It is, in my humble opinion, and there are no macro policy responses that are likely to be worth your time in the offing any time soon.
So best to get on with life.
Before I get on with that, I wanted to share my observations about the people I met and spoke with these last few days. Let us call them the "Amish" and the "English" ("The English" is how the Amish refer to non-Amish).
In appearance, the Amish are, unsurprisingly, in very robust physical shape. Most appeared to have all of their teeth, though my bet is most had not had teeth straightening treatments as children, and those teeth were white. Not one of the men I met had any sort of tire or gut or extra weight hanging around the midriff. We did meet one overweight Amish woman. One. And we met hundreds.
The English were not as appealing to behold as the Amish. The vast majority were overweight in the extreme. Loaded with tatoo's, smoking, chewing tobacco, missing teeth, unkept... the differences were quite striking. In short, the English looked terrible.
The Amish farms were well kept, tidy, and productive. The homes of the English? More than half looked like the stereotypical country mobile home with junk deposited about the structure. The Amish do not appear to favor "yards", as crops grew right up to the eves of the house and surrounded the barns. No doubt that the Amish's large families are instrumental in keeping their homesteads in such pristine condition, but one could not help but see that many of the English living in the area have has lost their way... and I couldn't help but wonder how much the hours spent watching T.V. or in other media took away from their potential as stewards of their (the English) properties.
My bet is the Amish are not big on Prozac, either.
My bet is the Amish are not big on Prozac, either.
I made some contacts with local Amish farmers, a green house operator, leather worker, and General Store. I bought a Swiss/Gurnsey cross milk cow (I now have 3 milk cows...) 10 Black Jersey Giant hens, assorted roosters (to introduce new genetics into my flock), 2 dairy billy goats (also for genetics) and several flats of garden vegetables.
I ordered a hand planter for corn and beens. For an acre or 2 (or 3), these can work reasonably well.
My homestead is really coming along. I will have some pictures up shortly, if the tornados don't land here today.