This morning the air is full of the smell of freshly mown grass thanks to Robert mowing the lawn last night. That smell took me back so far to my youth that I wrote my younger brother and told him that I'm thinking about him.
In our teen years, Rick and I worked in the hay fields early in the morning. I drove the little Massey but I had a wheel rake.
I turned the windrows over so that the dew would get spread throughout the windrow. Also, any moisture in the bottom of the windrow from sitting on the ground would come to the top to dry out.
When the moisture content of the windrow was perfect, usually an hour or two after being turned over, Rick started baling with the big round baler.
I could go until the leaves of the alfalfa started flying when I turned the windrow. That's when I knew it was time to quit. The rest would have to wait until the following morning.
THAT WAS THE BEST PART OF MY CHILDHOOD--making hay with Rick!!!
When our dad had time, he would come to that field and bunch the bales. This means that he moved them into rows throughout the field. This way as little alfalfa as possible would be covered by the bales so that, if there was enough rain, the alfalfa could produce a second crop.
The bales needed to cure before being put into stacks later on. In the Fall, after the crops were all harvested, Dad would haul the stacks to the farm to be fed to our cows during the Winter.
It was an absolutely wonderful cycle of life on the farm.
Later on, when Robert; myself; and our children had a cattle herd, I made hay with Robert and later with Andrew and Jacob.
I never realized until this morning how much I miss making hay! Here's to the best time of year!!!
May God bless ALL farmers and ranchers with safety and wonderful times working as a family to raise food for the world!!!
Happy today, Dawn
No comments:
Post a Comment