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AsBadAsAWetShit t1_j7d1dis wrote

Reply to comment by davyncarulli in I’ll never get tired of seeing a horse & buggy at the grocery stores in Amish country. by TyeDyeAmish

I’m not trying to argue, as I’m sure you’re closer to the plain folk than I am, but is it a fact that Amish “usually always live on a farm”, or do we just associate them with farming work? Land for farming, even in PA, can be very expensive. I doubt these communities are full of wealthy people waiting to bestow farming money to their 13 children when they all reach adulthood. There are a ton of Amish carpenters, craftsmen, and various other occupations. I’d say it’s actually quite more likely the majority of the Amish are not farmers. I’m little just talking out of my ass while eating ice cream, so I’m probably wrong.

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Similar-Roll5056 t1_j7d2qug wrote

The majority of amish in lancaster county are farmers. They are self sufficient and have knowledge of many different skills. The farms have been handed down for generations. Both amish and mennonites are ridiculously wealthy but are obviously very modest.

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Hazel1928 t1_j7g5n3n wrote

But if you have 6-8 children, and 85% stay Amish, you can’t hand down the farm to all of them. I live in Chester County, which adjoins Lancaster County. There are still plenty of farmers, but there isn’t enough land to keep up with the growing Amish population. So I don’t think a majority are farmers. Therefore of them have businesses doing carpentry, building and selling furniture, operating stalls at markets (where they sell fruits and vegetables, baked goods, wooden handicrafts, fabric handicrafts, homemade candy, fresh squeezed lemonade, soft pretzels, and more). We had an Amish guy install hardwood floors and he referred us to another Amish guy that built our kitchen cabinets. Everything was done to perfection, and we really enjoy it.

And in Lancaster County, there are many tourists, so the Amish provide services to the tourists: buggy rides, stores with Amish baked goods and handicrafts, tours of Amish farms.

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