Saturday, June 22, 2013

Hay Time on the Farm

The crew showed up two days ago and we were jumping for joy!  This has been a hard year to catch a dry time between rains. They cut half of the 80 one day and came back yesterday to cut the rest.  Because of the 90° days and the breeze they were able to bale the east 20 yesterday and made a start on the other 20 late in the day.  They still have the 40 acres left that was just cut yesterday. 

They might be able to finish today.

This is the 20 acres east of the house.  I had to walk it yesterday just to see how it looked.

This is along the  road heading back toward the compound.

East 20 looking north west photo east20lookingnorthcuthay_zps81b07499.jpg

and this is closer in,

E 20 looking West 2013 photo hayfieldeastofhousecut_zps6a3426b6.jpg

I couldn't resist taking this shot.  It is along the fence east of the house and the boundary fence of the hay field, 
 photo wildflowersineastfencerowbyredbarn_zps62a12d01.jpg


Daylilies are starting to bloom.

This is a red buried at the south end of the cellar bed....it needs a better spot,

Red daylily in south end of Cellar Bed photo RedDaylilyinsouthendofcellarbedneedstobemoved_zpsfc145afa.jpg

and  this is Mauna Loa in the hummingbird bed,

 photo daylilyMaunaLoaonnorthsideofhbbed_zps5cb1341a.jpg


13 comments:

  1. Good luck on the rest of the hay! It sure feels good once everything is baled and you can breath a little sigh of relief!

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  2. So glad your hay crop this year is doing so well! I know how it galls you to have to buy so much for winter feed. Hope the weather holds up for you. Lovely lilies.

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  3. How great that you are getting your hay cut and I hope the weather stays nice until it is all baled. Love the shot of white flowers and wooden fence, and your lilies are lovely.

    Have a nice weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  4. I'm glad you've got a stretch of dry weather for you hay...same here...finally! I love the fence shot!

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  5. Daylilies and Hay. Life is good.

    It's been more than 60 years since the Fannins baled hay on our place. They let me ride on the hay baler with Ardell, whose job it was to twist the wires on the little square bales back when things were not very automated and farmers were not as conscious of the dangers of letting children on machinery.

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  6. Glenda,

    Thank God the weather is starting to warm up and stay dry enough to get the hay cut and baled. You have the most beautiful array of flowers there on your farm, I love the pictures.

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  7. Looks like lots of good hay, Glenda. I'm glad you are able to get it in dry.

    I like the pictures of your farmstead. I miss the older dairies. Those kind of barns are what I grew up with, and I have a hard time relating to today's multi thousand cow dairies. Did you and your husband dairy on this place.

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    1. Yes, Ray. All because of our vet. He was here one day after we moved her from the adjoining, smaller place. He said he thought I should start milking............and the rest is history.

      I (me) redid the old 3-stall bypass barn had the equipment installed.
      Bought my first small herd of 25 good Holsteins and we milked for about13 years. We were in our 50's when we started....not too bright.

      We did well and I got the cows up to 20,000 lbs RHA which is pretty good for the Ozarks. After the first awful 3-4 years, things smoothed out and I really liked it. DH did too, he quit his job before we milked the first day! I still miss it; but have enough sense to know I couldn't do it today!

      Don't let anybody tell you a small Mom and Pop operation can't make a profit....and that was buying all our hay. Today is different; milk prices didn't stay up with feed costs. Not sure I could do it for profit today. Dairies around here are almost non-existent!

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    2. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I still daydream about dairying "the way it was". Very few dairies around Tennessee anymore, too. Hard to believe it can't be profitable with $18-$20 milk, but I know costs have risen as well.

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  8. Its a good feeling to get that first crop in the barn. Your day lilies are beautiful!!

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  9. My brother who lives near your 'area' told me that folks are experiencing a bumper crop of hay this spring. Hope it holds well for the rest of the season too. That hay looks good! You'll probably be getting top dollar selling to the drought-stricken areas. I remember during my city days asking a country woman what the difference was between hay and straw--I thought the term was interchangeable!

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  10. Lovely daylilies, Its botanical name is Hemerocallis, which means "beautiful for a day." The name reflects the reality that daylilies' blooms last for only one day. Truly indeed.

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  11. I enjoy seeing the wider views of your place as well as the close ups of the flowers. Oh, and my daylily foliage looks bad much of the time, too.

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