Hay Day May 2012

My goats are gonna love this!

Having grown up in dairy country, my husband spent many summers as a hired hand "buckin' bales". A city girl myself, I had to create mental pictures from scratch as he told me about those times. But now, thanks to my sister on her 20-acre farm in Hurdle Mills, I have participated in the celebration of bringing in the hay. And I say celebration because we have gone the last month without a supply of hay. I have meagerly doled out $18-a-bale alfalfa to my goats, waiting for this day when the hay barn is once again full.

Here is how it works:
1. after planting, watering and lovingly tending the grass to maturity, watch the weather report for the best time to cut
2. email your helpers to be on alert for hay day
3. cut it and allow it to lie in the field to dry
4. pray for the weather to stay sunny and dry
5. email your helpers with a specific date and time
6. keep praying for the weather to stay sunny and dry
7. when the time comes, get everything and everybody set. Have plenty of water on hand. Gas up the equipment and line up the trailers. Position the hay elevator to the barn loft.
8. pray for good weather. We had a glorius day! Temp in the 70's, a wonderful breeze. Couldn't have been better!
9. fluff the hay into rows

Fluffing the hay into rows

10. set the baler to the desired weight and tension. Start making bales.

Makin' bales

11. assign jobs - driver, buckers, stackers. An art and a rhythm are needed for things to go smoothly and safely.

Be sure to wear gloves

12. ride back to the barn with a trailer full of hay to unload

My sister and her daughter heading back to the barn with a trailer load

13. unload in the hay loft and stack (cut side up) loosely to promote curing

14. end the day with satisfaction of a job well done and a barn full of hay. We brought in about 400 bales on Saturday. Praise the Lord!

15. go home, give the girls some hay, watch them enjoy it. Then fall into bed and sleep like a baby. And hope you can still move in the morning when it's time to get up! :)