My daughter, Cassie, is part of a milk co-op that purchases milk from several Amish families in Ethridge, TN. To be a part of the co-op requires taking your turn driving to Ethridge to pick up the co-op's eggs, milk and other dairy products and this past Wednesday was Cassie's turn. I asked if I could come along on her run to Amish country so at 7:15 am we were off to Ethridge. In the past, Cassie had to drive to five different farms in the area but now she only has to visit one farm for the entire pickup. After the truck was loaded and money exchanged, she texted all the co-op members with a time to meet in Brentwood and then received confirmation texts that they would be there. The system worked great and all was distributed by 10:30 am. It was a blessing to have some one-on-one time with a very busy mother of six children and also to interact with the Amish, a very interesting people group.
The farm where we picked up the milk and other items. The Amish don't like to have their pictures taken so I respected their privacy. It was interesting in that all the males of the family dressed exactly alike, even the smalls boys. It may also be the case with the females, but we only saw one teenage girl while at the farm.
The area around Ethridge is flat compared to the Nashville area
This is a one room Amish school house with an outhouse. Cassie normally sees children playing outside but none today.
We stopped at a small store while Cassie sent out the text messages to the co-op members
The Milk Maid herself.
Another Amish farm that we passed
The local Ethridge economy tries to capitalize on the Amish community in the area
Cassie distributing the milk to her co-op members in Brentwood.