Make hay while the sun shines

What our animals eat is at the very foundation of our project -- it needs to be healthy, clean, sustainable, organic.  And when they eat well, well then so do we!  The quality of the goats' hay has a huge impact on both the quality and quantity of their milk production.  So, of course, we can't just go to the farm shop and buy their hay-- round here the good hay is kept for the hay-makers animals, and only the crappy hay makes it to market.  So its another thing that we have to learn how to make ourselves, and one that I had completely overlooked in our planning stages. 

The mountain tractor, finished cutting

Making hay looks so easy, but there is a whole science around what types of plants to cultivate in the hay fields, when to cut them, and so on.  And making hay in mountain fields is a far cry from the nice flat john deered hay fields you see lining the edges of the motorways.  In the sloping and irregular mountain fields, the hay can only be cut and worked with small machines and hand tools. Only a push mower can get into the cracks and go up the slopes.  The steeper slopes have to be hand cut with a scythe and hand turned with a rake. 

Field of hay waiting to be baled

To make hay you must 1) cut the right grass at the right time  2) turn it as it dries in the sun, so it dries nicely without losing its nutrients and 3) bale it up into manageable sized bales.  4)Gather and store it appropriately so it lasts through the winter.  It really does sound easy...

 Our hayfields are all in the mountains around us, so have to be cut with Gab's hand pushed tractor.  It takes gab about 2 days just to cut the hay in the fields that have been entrusted to him (we cut our neighbours hay, they don't need it but it needs to be done so it works out for everyone).  For the turning, there is a turning attachment on the same hand pushed tractor.  It takes another full day to turn and dry if there is full hot sun.  If its cloudy or dewy from too cool evenings, it can take two turnings and thus two days. 

ahhh, lovely finished bales waiting pick up

The baling is entirely reliant on technology -- if the baler works then its OK, if it fails then woe woe woe!  Yes, our baler has been a bit uppity, but that is completely another story -- that will be the next post i think!  The last time around, it took Gab 4 or was it 5 days to bale all the hay, because of baler failure.  Under normal circumstances, it would take about 1-2 days.

And last but not least, heave ho over 100 x 40kg baby bales into the pick up which fits about 12 at a time, truck them up to the hay barn (which we don't have yet, so they are in a gazebo for the moment!), unload them and go back for more.  Repeat until the circa 125 bales are loaded and put away. A job that gets done one trip a day over the course of 10 days or more.

So how much frickin' work is that??? Holy smokes!  2 days plus 2 days plus 2-4 days plus 1-2 days...7-10 days work.  OK, we can handle that (well, Gab can...I'm right glad that's his job and he's happy with it!!), and just one cutting is enough for our animals, and the other cuttings throughout the year we can sell at a pretty good price.

EXCEPT that if it rains during the process, just once is enough, then ALL the hay is ruined.  It can only be used for animal bedding or compost.  And the rotten thing is, even though you know the hay is worthless on the ground, you still have to turn it, bale it, pick it up, otherwise the field beneath will be ruined and you can't make more hay next time.   That's what happened this June -- 11 days of work for crappy worthless mouldy hay because it rained at just the wrong time, contrary to all the weather predictions.  Aaaaaaaaaaargh!  That is such a classic farmer's frustration.  Days and days and days of work, all up the spout because of a glitch in the weather.  And you don't want to know what 11 days of neglect does to a big veggie garden...

So, my dears, it really is as they say...MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES!  Or Else!

Mia takes a hay bath with zia Sabri