Amish Greenhouse

Maple Avenue Greenhouse is owned and operated by an Amish family. Open to the public, just north of Kalona, Iowa. Every spring my wife and I go pick up plants for the garden here. Things like tomato plants, pepper plants, annual or perennial flowers, rhubarb, or even garden tea; whatever you want to grow in your garden or flowerbeds.

There really is nothing quite like the smell of a greenhouse! My wife is more of a gardener than I am but I always enjoy going along to Maple Ave. and walk around looking at all the growing things and taking in the awesome aroma. Not to mention, there are usually little Amish children playing in the house-yard nearby, which ads to the ambiance.

The place looks empty here but there are usually Amish girls working to keep everything tidy.

 Make sure to see their private Covered Bridge! Ask them about it at the greenhouse. It is over a creek leading to their tree nursery. Go look at baby trees, even if you don't want any... just to take the drive over the covered bridge! I talked to the Amishman that owns this place last summer, I think he said that it was an existing building that he converted into a covered bridge, but I'm not sure I remember that right. Ask him about it, he would be glad to tell you. I told him that people will get a big kick out of his bridge and he got a huge grin and asked, "Really?" Be sure to compliment him on it, he is hoping you will like it! You can also see the covered bridge in the photo below, and the tree nursery.

 If you're in Kalona, find the "Casey's General Store" and go straight north from there, past Kalona Mennonite Church. You will also pass by the Kalona Harness Shop (another great place to stop.) It's on a gravel road but only about 1/2 mile off pavement.  If you are up for more adventure, keep going north from here about another mile, you will come to a T intersection. Turn right and head another 1/2 mile and you will find the Golden Delight Amish Bakery and the best doughnuts in the world! Golden Delight also has a nice gift shop.

I took this photo right next to the greenhouse (it's their pony)

Heart of an Amish Farm

Horses are the heart of an Amish farm.

No matter how little you know about the Amish, one thing is obvious, horses are a big part of daily life in their world. It would be very difficult for most modern people to step into that lifestyle, mostly because of working with horses. I was driving home from work the other day and passed an Amish girl driving a buggy. I noticed her horse was galloping, which is not common for a buggy horse, and usually a sign that there is trouble. Not far down the road was an Amish farm, so I turned into their lane and watched to see if she was going to need help. Her horse was galloping so near the ditch, at one point the wheels on one side had slipped down a foot into the ditch, I was sure her buggy was going to overturn. Somehow she got her horse back under control. By the time she passed me her horse was trotting along fine.

I took this picture from my dinning room window

My novel, Under the Heavens, is all about a teenage boy from town that goes to spend a summer on an Amish farm. His greatest challenge is learning to work with horses. Throughout the story it becomes quite clear, that if you're Amish, working with horses is just part of everyday life, whether you like them or not.

Here is a short clip from a letter I received from an elderly Amishman that read Under the Heavens.

Every letter I've ever gotten from an Amish person began with a scripture verse.

I liked how he used this verse to lead into his statement of thankfulness for "... the useful horse."

In the old days, hoof-beats were the heartbeat of America; those days are gone. Today, we can get a glimpse of what that life was like, by visiting an Amish community. If you step onto an Amish farm, you will soon figure out that horses are at the core of that lifestyle. The heart of an Amish farm.

Amish Cart

 I purchased this old two-wheeled cart at an Amish farm auction. It was old when I bought it in 1992 and that was over twenty years ago now. Believe it or not, it went for $10. I had to take it to another Amishman to have a new tongue put on, which cost me another $15. I have used this little two-wheeled "hitch cart" hundreds, if not thousands of times and it is as good as the day I bought it. (never had a flat tire yet!)

This steel-wheeled cart made it onto the cover of my 1st book, Under the Heavens. I like how simple and authentic it is. It's too bad I don't know how old it really is. It's fun to imagine all the many adventures my cart had on the Amish farm it came from. More than likely, it pulled many a loaded hay-wagon, and barge-box full of grain. It is also quite possible it pulled out numerous vehicles stuck in mud or snow. Carts like this one have been used to pull a dead sow or cow out of the lot, not to mention logs and shrubs.

The wheels make an squeaking sound as they turn, but Karma and Coke don't seem to notice.

Karma spent the first 7 years of her life on an Amish farm and Coke was 4 when I bought her. I know they had a lot of adventures before they came to live with me.

I like to tease them about how easy they have it on my place. I do a lot of the same types of work on my acreage but only a fraction of what work is being done on an Amish farm.

Of course, they had about six other big horses helping when they were on the Amish farm.

Karma is Coke's aunt. Coke's mom was a full sister to Karm. That may be why they work so well together, and look so much alike.

Mennonite Carpenters

My old "horse barn" needed some help soon, or the roof was gonna fall in. I had been telling my brother-in-law that I wanted his crew to come do the work as soon as I could scrounge up the money.

My wife's granddad put up this corn-crib some 80 years ago and my dad-in-law plastered three sides after they stopped using it to store grain. That made it into a wind-tight and useful horse barn. This wooden side (pictured below) was starting to get really weathered. It didn't show from the road, so looks weren't the issue. However, I love this old building and wanted to save it.

You can see in the picture above, that the rafters were getting soft in places. These Mennonite-raised carpenters knew what they were doing and got us all fixed up. I think this barn will outlast me now!

You can see Karm and Coke were displaced for a few weeks, till the carpenters were done. There is a strand of electric fence keeping them out. They seemed to enjoy all the company they had while the crew was working (normally things are pretty quiet.)  I spent about a week with a magnet picking up nails before I let them back in this area. Sure hope I got them all!

My brother-in-law is way up top fixing the peak.

Dan put in a clear piece of siding, for a window to let in light.

Randy and Henry put in the final touches on my doors.

The whole place looks a lot better now, huh? (Rear view: above. From the road: below)

A special thank you to Randy, Dan and Henry.

You guys did a great job... and it was really fun having you around the home place!

(...by the way, this farm was Randy's home place when he was growing up.)

My Favorite Picture

 I was sitting in the parking lot of an Amish bakery shop eating an amazing doughnut while my wife picked up a few more items. This little Amish boy climbed out of the buggy parked beside our car and stood next to his family horse. He called to his brother who had walked over to the wash-line yonder.

Later when I looked at my phone to see the picture... the young guy seemed to disappear right before my eyes. At first I was really disappointed, because I was sure there was a boy in the picture, then all at once he appeared again. That is when I realized I had two pictures, one with a boy, one without.

If you are ever in the Kalona area, make sure to stop at the Golden Delight Bakery. I'm convinced they make the best doughnuts in the whole wide world! The bakery is located about a mile north of Kalona on a gravel road. Watch for the sign along highway 1 north of town.

Quilting Day

 My wife grew up in a quilting community. When a good friend told us about a quilting frame his great-grandfather had made by hand, we couldn't wait to see it. Johannes Jonasson, a Swedish carpenter, migrated to Burlington, Iowa from Sweden in 1882. He crafted this quilting frame around the turn of the last century. My good friend Jim, and his sister Susan, decided to gift this family heirloom to us, because they wanted it to be in a home where it would be used to make quilts.

As you can see, this frame came to us in pieces and I had to assemble it. Everything is handmade, even the wooden pegs that hold the parts together, and the sprockets that are used to keep a quilt tight. We took a quilt that my wife's great-aunt Merle owned, and placed it in the quilt rack to try it out.

While I was putting this together, my wife reminisced about "quiltings" she has been a part of over the years. She remembered that when her mother "put in" a quilt, she would invite ladies from her Mennonite church to come help. They made a social event out of it. They used a slightly different style of frame, that would hold the entire quilt wide open in a large square. The first day 10 to 15 women would sit around it on all sides quilting. When the edges were all finished, fewer quilters would have a place at the quilt. On a second day, maybe only 6 ladies would be invited to come help. When the quilt was nearly all finished it would look like this picture below, and a woman may finish quilting it herself. Or, she may have a daughter or two help.

I remember stopping in to pick up my wife and seeing the ladies all working hard. I also remember them laughing, telling fun stories, and having plenty of good food around, also.

My wife also has had the privilege of being invited to several Amish quiltings. She told me that it seemed somewhat more business-like at those gatherings. She remembered that they were making quilts for "a cause" but she doesn't remember what. Maybe it was the Mennonite Benefit Sale, where everything is auctioned off and the proceeds go to Pleasantview, the Mennonite retirement home in Kalona. She said that they wanted women who could quilt at the same "quick" pace to sit on the end, so they didn't have to wait for a slower worker to finish before rolling the quilt. She remembered that our Amish friend, Alma, had to help her finish her section to keep the others from waiting.

A very special "thank you" to the Olson family for entrusting this beautiful artifact to us.

Book Store

If you're ever in Iowa City, look for Prairie Lights book store, you will not be disappointed. Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop the first creative writing degree program in the United States. Authors come from all over the world to "hone in" their writing skills. Many have left their mark, and their book, here at Prairie Lights.

Knowing that, you will understand my excitement when Prairie Lights placed my novel on their shelf. Now, Under the Heavens and Catbird Singing are both available at this wonderful book store.

Check out this dog under the table.

If you do stop by, tell them Thomas Nye (the local mailman who did not go to the Writer's Workshop) sent you. By the way, they also have an amazing in-house coffee shop, tempting you to buy a good book and start reading right there!