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Ultimately, after a long journey from home, we arrived at the Amish Farm. The Valley Brook Vacation home is an Amish Farm snuggled near a brook in East Earl, Pennsylvania, approximately two hours away from Baltimore City.
A Home Away From Home
Also, discovering the Valley Brook Vacation home and Amish farm off the main street was straightforward, and we had to make a sudden and hard right turn so we didn’t miss the property. The farm rests several hundred meters from the main road, with a paved pathway dotted with recent animal droppings. I presume the fresh manure was from the cows on property or visitors in their horse and buggy. A lady in Amish attire retreating from her haul of raw cow milk on her bicycle indicated we were on the correct route.
Amish and Amish Farm of Lancaster County
West Earl Township was developed from Earl Township in 1833, and East Earl Township was formed in 1851. Lancaster County was conceived out of an area encompassing present-day York and Cumberland Counties and Berks, Northumberland, and Lebanon Counties. Earl is the Anglicization of Grof, the German equivalent of Earl. A nobleman of intermediate rank, usually spelt “Groff” by today’s descendants.
The Amish arrived in Lancaster County in the 1720s, but the faith has roots in 16th century Europe during the Reformation. The Anabaptist campaign during the Reformation spurred the creation of three “plain” communities: the Amish, Mennonites and Brethren. Although these spiritual groups have similarities. The Amish are the most conservative, emphasising humility, family, community and separation from the non-Amish world, including a reluctance to adopt modern conveniences such as electricity.
“Anabaptist, (from Greek ana, “again”) member of a fringe, or radical, movement of the Protestant Reformation and spiritual ancestor of modern Baptists, Mennonites, and Quakers. The movement’s most distinctive tenet was adult baptism. In its first generation, converts submitted to a second baptism, a crime punishable by death under the legal codes of the time. “
— Britanica.com
Early Anabaptists were put to death as heretics by both Catholics and Protestants, and many others fled to the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. Here began the Amish tradition of farming and holding worship services in homes rather than churches.
The Pennsylvania Amish community in Lancaster County is the oldest and largest Amish community in the United States. The community consists of about 30,000 individuals.
Valley Brook Farm & Creamery
The wide-open spaces and the cows were my favourites on the farm. Life slowed down to equal the bubbling harmony of the brook near the farmhouse. The farm owners were very welcoming and were always busy tending to the land, cows or chickens.
The farmhouse was build in 1857. The guest house where we were staying was built in 1880. Our host family has owned and lived on the property since the early 1960s.
In conclusion, the guest house and the grounds of the farm was well maintained and opened for exploration by the kids. It was a great stay and departed the farm with fresh eggs, ghee, butter and cheese curd.
