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I met an Amish man at a local grocery store where he was stocking up, and realized that he might be able to put me into contact with a member of him community that tanned leather. I have been doing some small leather projects, and have been looking for cheap leather. Why pay $70 for a holster when I can make one myself for $20? Anyway, I asked, and he told me about a man in their community that makes harnesses, etc. for the group. I got directions, and went there. He was able to help me out, (after waiting while he vaccinated his hog) and I ended up getting a side of leather for about 30% less than it would have cost me to order it. He didn't tan it himself, but he was getting a volume discount, and passed the savings on to me. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned that times were getting bad. He'd heard that they were going to get worse, too. I told him that at least he had the ability to produce his own food. Thinking about it, I looked around and realized that these folks were already where most of us aspire to be. They had the capacity to produce nearly everything they needed. The guy in the store was buying sugar and peanut butter.
They also had an interesting approach to the problem of electricity. They didn't use any. All of their tools were either hand tools or worked behind a horse. That would be a tough one for me, because I'm not only basically lazy, I am addicted to the computer and electric lights. It was interesting that they seemed to be thriving without it. I think I'm going to come up with some more reasons to interact with those folks.
They also had an interesting approach to the problem of electricity. They didn't use any. All of their tools were either hand tools or worked behind a horse. That would be a tough one for me, because I'm not only basically lazy, I am addicted to the computer and electric lights. It was interesting that they seemed to be thriving without it. I think I'm going to come up with some more reasons to interact with those folks.
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