Second Cutting

@CCSeed

Our first year here I didn’t get the hay thing.  The second year I started to notice that everyone else around here did.  The third year I got with the program.  Well sort of.

There’s plenty of use for hay throughout the year, even without livestock, including mulching around the vegetables and protection for perennials in the winter.  I only put the equivalent of six or seven bales into the barn during the year.  Otherwise we treat of hay field more like a lettuce patch, going to it and cutting what we need as we need it.

The area I scythe is small, about 100′ x 50′, but it’s a good workout.  I guess you could say it’s why I don’t belong to the gym.  There’s something profoundly gratifying doing this work by hand, without the roar of an engine.  I tend to get my best insights swinging that thing around.  I think the neighbors think I’m a little nuts.  When and if they ask, I’ll answer, just a little…