It feels like Autumn has arrived this week: the weather has pivoted back to the familiar wind and rain, the temperature has dropped a few degrees and the nights are slowly but surely lengthening.
On the whole it's been a good growing season for us as we've had just enough rain and not the excessive heat that other parts of the UK and Europe have endured. So we've managed to grow plenty of grass and get a good crop of hay made. We made about 400 small bales, an increasingly rare variety these days as they are much more time-demanding and also quite hard work. The actual baling is slower, then the bales need to be stacked, by hand, into piles in the field so that they can be lead up to the shed with a tractor and bale clamp.
Then, they must be stacked in the shed to make efficient use of the space. Without a bale elevator, which we don't have, they must be man-handled up the pile. It's dusty, scratchy work that relies on many hands working together, always watching the weather and not stopping until its all safely under cover. But its nice to share the work with family and neighbours and it's a great feeling to have all the hay in the shed, ready for the winter months.
It's much harder than round bales that are done entirely with tractors and large machinery in a matter of hours. But also, a lot more rewarding.
Here is a video of the process we made last year.