Hauling hay

We've had so much to learn about running our little farm. We were excited when we first moved in because we had 5 acres of grass hay that we could cut and put into the barn and hayshed. We felt so self-sufficient to have that hay in the barn for our animals. After we got the cow, we noticed that her milk production was going down. When we asked some of our dairy farm neighbors, they asked what we were feeding her. When we told them grass hay, they just shook their heads. Evidently, grass hay doesn't have enough protein for a milk cow. Bummer! So we ended up selling the hay we had so lovingly hauled and stacked in our barn and hayshed. Then we had to turn around and buy alfalfa hay from a friend.

We were having a hard time figuring out how to haul this hay home from Smoot. (We had hauled our grass hay on a flat bed trailer behind our van.) There was snow now and we knew the van couldn't get into the field where the hay was. Also, our van and flat bed trailer couldn't really haul more than a ton at a time. What a dilemma. Enter our wonderful neighbor, Blair Hillstead. He said he'd be glad to help us out. He showed up with a tractor and wagon and we headed on over.

Man did I get a better appreciation for my brothers and dad after loading this load of hay. For most of my growing up years, my dad and brothers hauled hay by hand. For those who aren't farmers, each bale weighs 65+ pounds. We had to throw all this hay on the wagon and stack it up that high. It was Russ, Betsy, and I. (Caleb was at school or he would definitely have been in on this!) Of course Br. Hillstead pitched right in too. He's over 65 and he totally put us all to shame. He just never got tired. (I was one ball of jelly from head to toe when I was done!)

Br Hillstead with Russ and Betsy

Ok, ok so I look tired. . . I am!

A.J. got to hang out in the car while we were loading.

Can we go home now??

Some pretty SV scenery where we were hauling hay:

The saddest part about all of this is that after we drove home to our house, we had to do it all in reverse. (Unload that trailer and stack it in the hayshed) Whew! What a day!