Shipshewana and the Quilt Garden Tour

Our first stop was to Shipshewana. This is a small town, a village actually only miles from the Michigan border. A little over 500 people live here. However, it is the center of Amish community. It has one of the largest flea markets in the world. It is the home of simple foods, tools, arts and crafts. It is the home of the Menno-Hof Amish/Mennonite Museum. It was a good place to begin a tour.

The first garden was on the museum grounds. It was titled “Dove at the Window.” “Peace” was a reoccurring theme for many of the gardens. The garden consisted of over 3,500 Begonias, that’s a lot of flowers! The setting was great. In front of the museum was a clothes line with Amish and Mennonite clothes hanging on the line. Behind the garden was a pond. It was all simple, consistent with Amish living.

The Menno-Hof Museum is a wonderful place to learn about all the different types of Anabaptists. There is a replica of the 16th century ship. There are displays that describe the persecution the Amish experienced in Europe. There is plenty of information about the world of the Amish today. It is definitely worth a visit, just not on a Sunday!


Quilt Garden Show: Shipshewana Indiana

There was a small reflecting pond between the museum and the road. It simply highlighted an already beautiful garden.

Menno-Hof-Amish/Mennonite Museum: Quilts Continued

Across the road was the Farmstead Inn. This was not an Amish structure. It is a massive hotel (massive for a town of 500) that serves the many visitors to this part of Indiana. The garden was titled “Shoofly Garden”. It was big, It replicates a quilt found in the town hall. The Shoofly represent a conductor on the underground railroad, again, social justice is an important value in this part of the state. The garden is made up of Periwinkles. There are 2010 white Periwinkles and 2810 rose colored Periwinkles, yep, that’s a lot of Periwinkles. If we were here any day but a Sunday we could cross the road and have a nice piece of Shoofly Pie.
There were more murals in town but it was time for us to move on.


Farmstead Inn: Quilt Garden