It was a hot day, but farmers must harvest their crops when they are ready, whatever the weather, unless it is raining. I was on my way to town when I saw that the Millers were working in their oat field. The past weeks I had been admiring the beauty of those golden-brown sheaves of grain. The crop was no longer a field of swaying grain for it had been cut and was standing in shocks ready to be harvested.
I pulled over to the side of the road, got out and trekked across the field to where one of the youngsters was driving the horse drawn wagon, stopping every few feet for other family members to pick up the shocks and put them on the wagon. When it was loaded they took it across the field to the thrashing machine where more men were waiting. The machine was started and the oats were fed into the machine which separated the grain from the straw. By the time the task was finished there was a huge pile of straw. It is baled and taken to the barn where it is stored in a bin to be used as bedding. The grain is stored in the barn and used to feed their horses.
Andy M. Miller currently runs his father-in-law Andy J. Miller's farm, and he gave me some information about the process used by the Amish when they harvest oats. The first job was to cut the oats and shock them. Then they have to dry 10 days before the thrashing begins. A tractor is used to run the thrashing machine. It was probably made in the 1940s. They only use a tractor for stationary tasks. Andy M. owns the thrashing machine but sometimes several Amish men purchase one together and it is taken from farm to farm to harvest each farmer's oats.
Harvest time for the Amish is a very busy time and since they do not use electricity and all the modern faming equipment, their methods are somewhat different than the English farmers. At that time usually the whole family is involved in some capacity.
The men and older boys are not the only ones that are busy on thrashing day. Mom and the older girls are too. She prepares a large meal, Amish-style, with all kinds of delicious food along with deserts. Sometimes a neighbor lady or relative also comes to assist.
Amish parents have more children than most of the English families and the they learn to work at a younger age. Each family raises a large garden and the children help in weeding and picking the vegetables. The whole family works hard during all the harvest season. If they have a vegetable and fruit stand in the yard, where they sell produce, the children help there too. When the harvest is finished it is a relief but then there is still work to be done in winter.
One can easily see that life for the Amish is much like that of the families of yesteryear. They work diligently without many of today's modern equipment and their homes and yards are lovely. Their schools are much like the country schools of long ago which began each day with Bible reading and prayer. Their lives center largely around their church and caring for one another. Their schools are similar to the country schools
We have found the Amish to be friendly, helpful neighbors and their lives center largely around their church. In fact I have seen that they live a lot like my family did when I was a child living on the farm.
Many young folk today have no idea what it was like in those yesteryears. I recall that thrashing day then was as busy as the Amish's is today. at our house except for we younger kids and it was exciting for us. My dad and several similar neighboring farmers started the task of transporting the oat shocks in a similar way that the Amish do today except they hauled them in to the barnyard. A custom harvest man with a thrashing machine was waiting there to begin the task. He traveled from farm to farm each year on designated thrashing days. Several years my dad traded thrashing with the farm employees of the county home
It was a busy day for mom too because she prepared a large dinner, including all kinds of pies to feed the men. That was a big a task but my older sisters helped and usually a neighbor lady came to assist too. We younger kids use to set in the front yard and watch the men as they worked. We took our tricycle, turned it upside down and used the pedals making it our thrashing machine. Of course we also audibly made it sound like the one we were hearing across the road!
Another similarity of the Amish and yesteryear is that in those years children did not have as many toys, electrical games, TVs, cell phones, iPods and many other things that youth have today.
They created much of their own entertainment through their ingenuity. Of course they had balls, bats, dolls, and homemade toys just as the Amish have today.