Monday 29 June 2015

It has begun.

The weatherman has forecast hot weather for this week, although with increasing humidity.   So the good and the bad as far as haymaking is concerned.   The farmer has taken a risk and begun by cutting our own field for hay (only one field, the rest goes for silage).   There is quite a breeze blowing today so that should begin the drying process nicely - then hopefully a hot sun will begin to crisp up the grass before the heavy humidity kicks in and makes it go soft again.  If it goes too soft then he will make it into silage. There is always that risk and it does make one realise just what risks the farmers had to take in the days when there was only one cut a year, it had to be hay, and the farmer's livelihood depended upon the hay crop to feed his beast during the winter months.  No wonder the farms were small rather than some of the huge farms today where dairy herds are numbered in hundreds rather than tens.
No hay to speak of meant cattle feeding on expensive 'bought in' cattle cake and root crops.

I went out to take this photograph and was assaulted by the wonderful aroma of freshly cut grass - wish this could be a smelly blog.

He has quite a lot of haymaking to do for friends but this looks like a risky week, so he is doing his own first.   One at a time - too dangerous to get all the grass down and then be caught out.   So keep your fingers crossed for us.

17 comments:

A Heron's View said...

I feel almost certain that the Farmer will make a good crop of hay Pat.

Gwil W said...

Make hay while the sun shines (and good luck).

Elizabeth said...

Smelly blog would be good!
Love the smell of cut grass.
Enjoy the good weather - while it lasts.

SandyExpat said...

Another interesting blog about hay - my mum grew up on a farm in Suffolk but I had no idea about the risk involved. The farmer is a wise and hard worker.

Unrelated to today but I have wanted to say that I like how easy it is to read your blog. I gave up on a couple of others because they either have a color back ground that makes it difficult to read or extremely small print etc. Is it just me or do others find that?

jinxxxygirl said...

fingers , toes, and eyeballs! hugs! deb

donna baker said...

Nice tractor and the hay looks good. And, now I know what silage is.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Ahhhh, poor buttercups!

Mac n' Janet said...

Hope the humidity holds off for you, ours never holds off, just gets higher each day.

Jennifer said...

I love the smell of cut grass too. Good luck with the hay, I hope your weather is perfect for it.

Joanne Noragon said...

I hope all goes well. We must have shipped over the hot air; it has been in the sixties or less for a couple of weeks.

Heather said...

Fingers crossed for perfect weather conditions. I love the smell of new mown hay - it takes me back to my childhood when my grandmother's paddock was cut.

angryparsnip said...

Fingers caught and lots of good wishes sent your way.

cheers, parsnip

Rachel Phillips said...

Peter is also hoping for continuing dry and hot weather. He is haymaking and hoping to bale on Wednesday. The buttercup man above, worry not, the buttercup is alive and well everywhere around here, not just in the hay field. The hedgerows are full of dog rose, forget-me-nots, buttercups, soldiers buttons, poppies and many more. Animals have to have winter fodder and this is what the hay is for.

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

Good Luck Farmer. I think you have chosen well for cutting. I love to see hay going by for winter - like money in the bank

The Weaver of Grass said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Weaver of Grass said...

Sorry but bad spelling mistake, so will start again.
It's good to know that in Norfolk, as here in Yorkshire, wood avens is called soldiers' buttons!
Thanks for the contributions and opinions. Much appreciated.

thelma said...

It has given me hay fever all this mowing of hay, but such a lovely sight to see I don't really mind.