Lancaster County, Pa. | It appears that you must have the same variety of amish that we have, which wouldn't suprise me as many have moved out of Lancaster County and headed for places like Indiana, and Kentucky. The pictures Mark posted could easily been snapped in a Lanc. Co shop. One thing that is happening in the amish community here is that farmland is so tight that many amish have gotten set up to manufacture sheds, gazebos, playsets, you name it. These guys turn out an incredible amount of stuff and since they are allowed air tools (nailers, air powered saws, ec) and hard tired fork lifts they have everything they need to set up a highly efficient manufacturing system. The amish farmer, on the other hand, is allowed the same things but they don't help him nearly as much. The farmer is still farming like our granddaddys did while the gazebo builders have very efficient manufacturing operations. This in turn creates some serious economic disparrity. That could all change, however, if this economy stays in the gutter and people quit buying sheds and playsets. |