Ames' Gingerich Amish Baskets are Hand-Woven by Iowa Families

Darla Best has been selling Amish baskets at the for the last six years. Her business, Gingerich Amish Baskets, offers hand-woven baskets made by seven different Amish families. The business is named after three of the Amish families all with the same last name Gingerich.

Along with beautifully crafted baskets in all shapes and sizes, Best also sells loom woven rugs woven by a young Amish woman, potholders, trivets, and aprons. Any of the baskets can be custom ordered. If you want dividers, a lid, or handles, Best says the Amish families can make almost anything you want.

All products Best sells are made in southern Iowa or just over the border in northern Missouri.
 
“A lot of people really like the idea that the baskets are local and from this area instead of overseas,” Best says.

Best started selling the baskets after a good friend met an Amish family and shared some of the baskets she had bought. Best showed some of the baskets to friends at work and at church.

 “We were having a fundraiser and someone suggested consigning the baskets and it just started from there,” Best says.

Mim Fritz of Ames, stopped by Best’s booth on a recent weekend at the North Grand Farmers’ Market.

“Did you bring a cradle?” Mim asks.

Best turned over a small cradle to show Mim how the family signed and dated their work. On the bottom of the cradle are the names Eli and Caroline Troyer of Lamoni.

“Now they’re the mom and dad so they don’t put their age,” Best says.

“They can use it for the baby or to put a dolly in to rock but I’m looking for something to put my baby present in,” said Fritz about her newly purchased Amish cradle.

“When the baskets are signed and dated, I can tell the customers about the particular person that made their basket,” Best says. “For example, this is Jacob. He’s 9 years old and has brown hair and brown eyes and he is kind of shy. I enjoy sharing the families and their traditions.”

Best feels that the greatest part of her business is the relationships she has developed with the Amish families.

 “They are wonderful people,” Best says. “It is fun to share the Amish way of life with my customers at the Ames Farmers Market.”