When twelve-year-old Mary spends a summer working on her sister's farm in an Amish community, she learns that there is more than one kind of housekeeping.

When, after their brother's marriage, Nancy and Dannie leave Hemlock Hill Farm to help the Taylor family at Timber Lane Cove, Nancy wonders if she'll ever have a home of her own, especially since Andrew, her intended, is still far away in Tennessee.

Miriam struggles to cope with her grief and worries about two friends straying from the lifestyle approved by their Amish church.

Joe and Arie, a young Amish couple, try to get through their first summer on their farm with the help of Joe's younger sister Nancy and brother Steven.