Community Chat

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

I went out this morning before it got beastly hot.  A farmer about 2 miles from here is cutting his hay on one side of the road. Holy cow, it smelled good.  I like to watch them rake it, then bale it.

Bless them in this heat. When I first moved here DH was helping our neighbor stack bales in their barn. I said I wanted to help. Ha city girl had no idea how flipping hot that barn got. I also understood quickly why they wore jeans and not shorts. Hay itches.  This was before the huge round bales. Rectangular bails ran up an elevator and fell off in the barn. We picked them up and stacked them. Yeah, I was not a fan.

Very hard job, 365 days a year. Cows want to be feed and milked.

[PA Mom-mom]

@CrazyKittyLvr2  You brought back memories. As my friend says about the round bales, "Cows just can't get a square meal anymore!" When I was little, my brothers and I helped our cousin bale hay in the field next to our house. I rode on top of the wagon and arranged the bales, while my brothers threw the bales up to me. When I think about it, it was probably pretty dangerous! I was always barefoot, and my feet were so tough, they could withstand any kind of stubble field- even wheat stubble! In those days I was required to wear a dress. Talk about being itchy where you don't want to be! 

[Harpa]

@CrazyKittyLvr2, You brought back memories for me, too! My sister & BIL used to bush hog and bale their hay for the horses. All I could ever do is sit up there on the haystacks, singing "Green Acres." They were way too heavy for me.

Definitely wore jeans, even on the hottest days.

[Jk9]

Brought up memories for me too of my childhood walking beside a big trailer lifting bales onto it until we couldn't reach the stacks, then the fellers took over and we stacked bales.  Yep definitely hot and hard work.  I didn't have brothers, so we were required to help as much as we could by driving the tractor and two of us lifting bales onto the trailer (one couldn't do it so we had to double team it).  These years later, I had to get bales out of the barn and put in wheelbarrow to fill the hay racks with hay.  Love the smell of horse quality hay especially.  Love the smell of cows too.  Bet that really added to your ride experience @CrazyKittyLvr2 .  Still love to smell freshly cut hay fields.  And yes, we were out there feeding and milking cows every day.

[Harpa]

I remember the taste of the hay! (I was making sure it was good enough for the Belgians!) Some fields were so sweet, as though they'd been touched with sugar! No kidding!

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

I was not a fan but I would help if I could. I just remember being drenched with sweat, itchy, grimy and dying for a shower.

I liked to go into neighbors barn and bottle feed the calves.

Funny thing is every barn cat came to me. I was not a cat person then. I think they were trying to win me over way back then.  It worked, I'm owned by cats now.

[Sooner]

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 wrote:

I went out this morning before it got beastly hot.  A farmer about 2 miles from here is cutting his hay on one side of the road. Holy cow, it smelled good.  I like to watch them rake it, then bale it.

Bless them in this heat. When I first moved here DH was helping our neighbor stack bales in their barn. I said I wanted to help. Ha city girl had no idea how flipping hot that barn got. I also understood quickly why they wore jeans and not shorts. Hay itches.  This was before the huge round bales. Rectangular bails ran up an elevator and fell off in the barn. We picked them up and stacked them. Yeah, I was not a fan.

Very hard job, 365 days a year. Cows want to be feed and milked.

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 You've got that right!  We onl had rectangular bales and 2 big barns.  Seed feed sacks to be loaded and moved, ice to be broken on the ponds, no milk cows thank goodness, wheat, soybeans and aflalfa hay to plant, and on and on.  

@CrazyKittyLvr2  Nice that you got an up close at the "simple" life!  If they have a big tractor or combine, drive it!  Now that's a blast!  

[PA Mom-mom]

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@Jk9 wrote:

 @CrazyKittyLvr2 .  Still love to smell freshly cut hay fields.  And yes, we were out there feeding and milking cows every day.

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@Jk9  I just love the smell too! As I reacall, it's the Timothy hay that gets me every time. 

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

@Sooner  Shock of shocks, I have driven a tractor.  Not a huge one but a tractor none the less.  My Mother could not believe that I did that along with throwing bales and feeding the neighbors calves.

Both my parents loved visiting here. They spent many a weekend with us. They loved the quiet although it took a while for them to adjust to walking outside and find a few cows staring at them from the field next door.

[Imaoldhippie]

How true,  farm life is not the laid back country life that is portrayed in movies and books.  A real farm operates 365/24/7 from dawn to dark, no holidays off, no long weekends, no paid vacation.