A beautiful sight
The past two weeks have been pretty busy around here. Why? Because the weather has been perfect for making hay.
You know the saying “Make hay while the sun shines”? Well, the sun has been shining, the days are getting hotter, and we have been making hay. For a farm that produces its own winter food, this fabulous late-spring weather is critical for getting the bulk of the hay cut, dried, baled, and stored.
In my opinion, a freshly-cut hay field is a beautiful sight. A dear friend of ours says it’s one of her favorite things to see; she usually asks if we can leave the bales in the field for just a few extra days so she can keep on looking!
Making hay has been a summer-time ritual in our family for a long time. Every spring and summer for his entire adult life, my dad has prioritized this process… so much so, that, when I was young, family vacations were planned around the event!
During hay season, Dad used to hire a few high school boys to help with the work, along with my uncles, aunts, and cousins (who had to work “voluntarily” by virtue of proximity!). Things have changed a lot since I was a kid: I’m not sure there are many high schoolers who would care to do this kind of work now. Also, we used to do everything in “square bales” (translation: one round bale that you see above is the equivalent of about 10 square bales. Can you imagine the man-power needed to physically pick up every. single. 30. pound. bale??? And stack it on a truck? And unload it into a barn?) My brother and I have become the helpers, though my brother is doing more and more of the work whenever he is able. I’m really thankful that our bales are round now… and that we have tractors to do the heavy lifting.
Over the years, other farms in the area have dwindled, but the land remains undeveloped… for now. Some property owners contract with a guy who produces and sells hay for a living. Others contract with my dad to have their fields cut. It’s a win-win situation: the property owner’s field is kept in good shape, while our farm produces a good supply of hay for the winter.
This year, the weather has been perfect so far and the initial cut has been really productive. If we get enough rain through the summer, there will be a second, third, and maybe even fourth cut before fall. But, if there’s a drought, the grass stops growing and the cutting season is stunted. If that happens, we’ll have to buy some hay from the guy I mentioned earlier!
But for now, things are looking good around here.
Ready to grow again.
A very good beginning!