Low-input hay

Ok, so the lunch and much of the breakfast we ate was made possible through fossil fuels...but the cutting and raking of the hay was all people-powered.


Our hope is that we can scythe and store enough hay for 4 sheep and 2 goats for this winter. Today we did about 1/6 of our back field. It took many hours and our arms are very sore, but hopefully we'll be in better shape soon and able to do a bit more next time.


I scythed a little and Bill scythed a lot. I raked tons. The next rain is predicted for Wednesday, so every morning until then I'm going to spread out the piles of hay to dry in the sun. Every evening, I'll rake them back up into piles or rows.

It was quiet and satisfying work and, even with sore muscles, I don't think I would have enjoyed a tractor-mechanical-gas-powered process as much (or at all, really).