With this lovely period of settled weather, we cut the first hay of the season on Tuesday 17th June.
Phil and I rowing up the hay together in the late evening
Our usual pattern is to cut relatively small areas of grass each morning as long as the weather window lasts. This means we have hay at different stages of maturity on the ground – some that is green and freshly mown, some that has been turned and spread for one or more days and some that is ready to bring in.
The children help out too, with special child sized hay rakes made for us by a friend
It is tempting to cut vast areas, but the work of scything is only a fraction of the work that needs to be done to turn grass into hay. If too much is cut in one go, the work of turning, rowing and carting it all can become daunting! By cutting smaller amounts frequently, the amount on the field to be worked stabilises after the first couple of days. As new grass is cut at the leading edge, finished hay is being taken to the barn at the trailing edge.