Members of the Amish community in Unity guide blocks of ice harvested Thursday from a farm pond. The ice was taken to icehouses to keep produce cold for up to a year. Photo courtesy of David Leaming
UNITY — A group of 30 Amish men and teenagers gathered Thursday for an annual effort to cut blocks of ice from a farm pond that were then stored in icehouses to keep produce cold for up to a year.
The labor-intensive work is normally done earlier in the winter, but farmer Stephen Smith said it was delayed by the unseasonably warm temperatures. They were able to complete the work ahead of the bitterly cold and gusty weather that moved into the region Friday.
Farmer Stephen Smith uses ice tongs Thursday to load heavy blocks of ice onto a wagon in Unity. He said about 30 Amish men and teenagers cut and chipped long pieces of ice from a farm pond before carving them into blocks for storage through the year in icehouses to keep produce cold. Photo courtesy of David Leaming
A chainsaw was used to cut large pieces of ice from the pond, and then they were crafted into smaller blocks, which were guided over to a conveyer belt using poles. The blocks were loaded onto horse-drawn wagons and taken to icehouses near a community harvest building not far from the Amish Community Market and Bakery on state Route 139, also known as Thorndike Road. The heavy load required each wagon to be pulled by a team of four horses.
Smith said approximately 300,000 pounds of ice was collected as part of a project that’s essential for storing produce and other food through the year.
“We’re glad it’s cold now as we usually do this in January and had to wait this year due to a warm winter,” Smith said.
Amish workers guide blocks of ice up a conveyor belt Thursday before loading them onto a wagon for storage in icehouses in Unity. Photo courtesy of David Leaming
Send questions/comments to the editors.
