On Saturday 5th July Phil and Michelle are leading a tour of the wildflower hay meadows at Dyfed Permaculture Farm.
This is a great chance to ask all your burning questions and see the home of Scythe Cymru.
Tour of the Farm 5th July
Category: Hay
June News From Scythe Cymru
Scything, Peening & Tool Sharpening Courses; ~ Visit our Meadows ~ No Mow May vs The Chelsea Chop
OPEN MEADOW MORNING Saturday 22nd June
OPEN MEADOW MORNING
Saturday 22nd June
Dydd Sadwrn Mehefin 22ain
BORE DOL AGORED
Misty Morning Meadow Mowing
Sometimes an early rise during haying weather brings a surprise. We had a lovely hour of mowing in the atmospheric mist. The mist gradually burned off as the sun rose. The sun on the wet vegetation was stunning. I take a lot of pictures of sunny, hot hay making. Below
When to Mow your Wildflower Meadow
RHS Chelsea Flower show starts next week. And we will soon begin hay making with our annual “Chelsea Chop” Conventional advise has suggested waiting until July or later before beginning to cut wildflower meadows. In recent years this advice has begun to change. We now begin our hay making at
Hay Making during unsettled weather
Occasionally we get a long spell of settled weather when we can make hay at full pace. Our early hay making was like this, with about 1.5 acres in the barn by the end. Right now we are in a patch of unsettled weather, a few dry days interspersed
Scything on Coast and Country (ITV Wales)
Back in August we spent an enjoyable day with Andrew from Coast and Country (ITV Wales), talking about scything and hand hay making. The piece will be going out this Friday 14th October at 8pm on ITV Wales. If you live outside of Wales, the programme will be available at
Wind blown windrows
Following on from good grass growing conditions in the spring we are doing well with our hay harvest. A heavier crop per acre combined with pushing the making during a good spell of weather in June means that the stacks have been pretty much full for a couple of weeks
Peening to Keep Mowing
Whilst mowing this morning both Phil and I were sharpening more frequently than usual to keep our blades mowing well – time for a peen. Here is Phil working on my 75cm Profisense ready for tomorrow morning’s mowing. Permaculture Magazine are featuring an article by us on peening in their
Making Hay while the Sun (briefly) Shines
We sneaked in a bit of hay making in the last little patch of good weather. The hay, cut on Wednesday morning, was racked last night to protect it from the showers that arrived over night. I didn’t get any photos, but have come across this interesting film from 1942,
A Good Start Made
This last week of beautiful weather has given us a good start on the seasons hay making. Phil has mowed every morning from Saturday 28th May until Friday 3rd June. The cut grass has been spread and rowed daily, taking about 3.5 days to dry. The first hay was bought
The Summer of Hay Making Begins.
It’s a weekend of firsts – we had our first beginners scythe course of the season yesterday and we started the first hay making of the year. Phil also found the first orchids in the hay field. The first was in bud……. and the second was starting to open. The beauty