Haying

The fields have been cut and the hay has been left to dry out for a couple of days.  Today is the day, the day we bale and put it in the barn for winter.  Haying always reminds me of the Ant and the Grasshopper.  How the grasshopper was having fun and enjoying the sunshine while the ant kept busy putting his food up for winter or possibly times of trouble.  Some people think this is just a parable but in reality it is in the book of Proverbs in the Bible.  God calls us to prepare and always be ready.  Anyways, I digress................ haying is a lot of hot, sticky, tiring work.  It is also very satisfying for us to see the fruits of our labors stored up in the barn for winter.

We spent part of yesterday moving the old hay from last year out into the barn and making room for the new bales.  We like using square bales of hay because the girl's and I mainly take care of our herd of goats and they are more manageable for us.  It is always a good thing to have some bales of hay left over from last year when you are getting ready to bale up the current seasons hay.  It is no fun and very expensive to run out of hay in the winter or early spring and have to locate some and usually pay a premium for it.

My husband and son also spent some time yesterday making sure the tractor was ready to pull the rake and baler.  One thing about farming is it seems like something is always breaking or needing to be fixed or have maintenance on it.  We are learning that farming is a "patient" job.  You are always waiting on something to be fixed, to come, to grow, the weather, etc.  It is also a rewarding job and there is much joy in it at times.





We were able to get about 75 bales from our two small fields, plus another 50 bales from a neighbors field.  This should be plenty for our purposes this winter.  This small amount is nothing compared to the 800 or so bales per cutting that we put up on our property before we moved.