Laughing Dog Arts

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Hay Season

I haven't been blogging much lately, I hope you didn't miss me. Life on this farm is pretty laid back but during hay season everyone works. Above you can see my field before the grass is cut, and below, just after cutting. We had unusually cold and wet weather clear up until past the 4th of July so haying went on a bit later than average but it is a great crop, with most folks saying they had a bigger number of bales produced than normal.
After the hay dries out on top for a day or two or 3, depending upon the weather, next they fluff it and create rows, like below.
Here is the machine that does the fluffing and row making. It is called a tedder rake. I don't know why. Probably someone named Tedder invented it. I usually call it the fluffer.


Below you see the nice view (ahem!) of the newly baled field.
Above is a picture of Farmer Jan, bucking a hay bale.  They are about 60 lbs. I usually do my fair share of bucking bales (picking them up and putting them in the wagon and into the barn) and can keep up with the rest of the gang.  I can't throw them up high though, I leave that for the guys.  This year I hurt my hip somehow and had to refrain from heavy lifting.  I was able to drive the truck. 
Above you see the baler machine, raking the hay rows into the screw like mechanism, then into the magic box where the bale is formed and somehow tied up and
spit out the back.
Then it is time to stack the bales onto the trailer
and head for the barn.
I thought there might be some of you that had never have seen the process before.  You can see the land around my property is covered with forested rolling hills.  It is a great place to live and work.  I hope you enjoyed this little instructional journey.

Be well.
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16 comments:

Crazy Mama said...

wow! what a beautiful backdrop and a fantastic property you live on! i'm sooooo jealous. yes, i never knew how they made those nicely tied squares of hay before, so this post was very interesting to me.

sjmcdowell said...

Hi Jan,

Thank you so much for posting about the Haying process. I never really knew how it was done and so now when I see a bale of Hay I will appreciate all the hard work involved in the process.
I love your property...it is sooo beautiful. You are fortunate to be able to live the way you do!!

Take care my Friend,

Susan

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

Hey Farmer Jan!
It's Farmer Anne, who did the oil and filter on her mini-tractor!
And it still works! LOL!!!
Love your pics of haying.....wish I could do it. I'd keel over from allergies, but love nothing more than seeing the bales or rolls.
Wonderful post.....reminds me of Grandpa's farm!
Now Farmer Anne needs to find some soap and water.... ;)

XXOO!!
Anne

Julie Zaccone Stiller said...

That was wonderful, I had no idea about all these steps in haying, thanks Farmer Jan! Just looking at all that hay is making me feel sneezy though, so I'd be no help at all and would have to stay back home making pies for the workers or something.
Hope your hip is feeling better!

Jan said...

Glad you enjoyed the post. It is hard work but fun and what a beautiful place to work in, right?
Julie, we always need someone to feed us up good after these sessions, I'd love a good piece of pie, send one on over. But please don't sneeze in it!

Anonymous said...

"Haying" is a lot of hard hot work!!
Great Post.....
Have a Wonderful Day!
Love,
Marilyn

Maggi said...

It is indeed a beautiful place to live Jan. Thanks for sharing the baling process. Take care of that hip.

Nancy said...

Job well done! sneeze.

Unknown said...

Very cool photos, Jan, how neat, thanks for posting them!!

audrey said...

Jan, how interesting this post is and I love the photo of you bucking a hay bale. It was a great idea for you to take us on this tour of how it all happens. Thank you for that. I really, really enjoyed the photos.
♥ audrey

Marlene said...

Hi Jan, I like your view of my Sunday Sketch, very nice. Thanks for the tutorial on hay baling. It was very interesting to see all the steps involved. Good thing you used to be a body builder, there is no way I could pick up and tote a 60 lb bale of hay.

Robbie said...

Jan, this post sure brought back memories of being raised on a farm and raising and showing horses up until 1990! I can almost smell the hay! Love that smell in the field!! thanks so much for the memories and I did miss your posts! Hope your doggie is doing better too!

Marie S said...

What a great tutorial Farmer Jan. I loved this.
You have a beautiful place!!
Love and hugs

Linda Vincent said...

What lovely views you have....I'm very envious. Great to see the process of making hay while the sun shines :-)

Judy Wise said...

thank you for the schooling on haying. now i know what my DH means when he talks about bucking hay. he was a farm boy. xo

April said...

You make hay season sound 'fun', Jan. We just have a regular rake, but my DH (Bob) thinks a tedder rake would be worth it's weight in gold. It saves a day or so in the drying process. Thanks for posting. It's enlightening to see this process through your eyes. I'm just glad we're all done!