Spring Hay Harvest

About a month ago, I showed you photos of how our pastures are coming along since we began our soil building efforts (See "Pasture Soil Building Update.") Another area we've been working to improve soil is in our hay growing areas. The methods are different, but we've seen hopeful results there too.

Winter hay mix of wheat, oats, winter peas, vetch, and clover.

For these, we've been using green manure, plant diversity, and old hay to build the soil. Cooperative weather helps! It isn't fence-to-fence consistent in terms of growth, but this is the best hay crop I think we've had so far.

What I really wanted to show you, however, is Dan's idea for getting the cut and dried hay into the hay loft. We've come a long way from our very first attempts. Remember this?

Photo from "Hay Loft!" May 2018. I snapped
it and then ran up to help pull the load in.

Here's how he does it now.

This is the last load, so it's only partially full,
but the box hoists easily with a full load too.

The box was the one our chest fridge came in, and it's perfect for this job! I fill the box, he hauls it up, and dumps it.

Of our three patches of hay we have two harvested and one more to go.

We could use the box to make our own bales if we wanted to! Sometimes, however, the hay is still not completely cured. This is mostly because the thicker stalks of the peas and vetch are slower to dry than the blades of grass. If rain is threatening, we bring in the hay, I spread it out on the hayloft floor, lightly salt it with Himalayan Pink salt, and turn it twice a day until completely dry.

The challenges of homesteading are never-ending, and the solutions are rarely one-size-fits-all. We start with what's available and experiment. Eventually, we figure things out!

Spring Hay Harvest © April 2020 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Saving the Wheat

I didn't know whether to call this blog post "Saving the Wheat" or "More Adventures in Haylofting." Why? Because of what happened to our beautiful stand of winter wheat.

One of our two small stands of winter wheat.

A mix of winter wheat, crimson clover, and vetch.

It was doing wonderfully until we got a series of heavy rains which flattened it. Last year some of our wheat lodged and while the kernels still dried, they also mildewed. With more thunderstorms on the way we decided to cut it. The kernels were still immature; in the milk stage with soft berries that squeeze out milk-like moisture. Because of that we decided to use it for hay.

Vetch is hard to cut with the scythe, so Dan used the sickle mower instead. We let it dry for two days and then with rain due again we raked it up. It amounted to two trailer loads, which were stored in the carport until the next round of rain was over. Then we had to figure out how to get it into the hayloft. We've somewhat "perfected" (I use that term loosely!) getting large round bales up there, but loose hay is another matter. This is what Dan came up with.

Extension ladder, plywood, and rope.

The tarp is one Dan used as a flat-bed driver.
It's much heavier than retail consumer tarps
and has d-rings as well as grommets.

Tarp tied to the plywood & sides bungeed together.

It was fairly easy to pull up then.

Because it wasn't fully cured, the concern was mold and the possibility of combustion from high heat decomposition within the piles of hay. In Salad Bar Beef, Joel Salatin mentions salting hay, so that's what I did.

I sprinkled a handful over each layer.

Spread out in the hayloft to finish drying.

So far this is working very well. I'm still turning it twice a day and am amazed at how quickly it's drying out. While it's a disappointment to lose the wheat for our consumption, this is really my favorite way to feed grain to goats. It's truly whole (plant) wheat. If SHTF and I can't buy wheat for flour this winter, we'll eat cornbread!

Meowy's favorite use for hay.

Weather is just one of those things we can't control! But a loss somewhere can be a gain somewhere else. All in all - no complaints.

Saving the Wheat © April 2019 by Leigh
at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Kid Proofing the Hayloft

When we built our barn, Dan installed a gate at the bottom of the hay loft ladder to keep the goats out.

Hay loft ladder

However...

Besides crawling between the steps, they also slip between the ladder and the wall on the right.

Yesterday morning I found this ...

They not only climbed up by themselves,
but they climbed down by themselves too.

That was it! It was time to install a kid deterrent! I cast about for some ideas and finally came up with this...

Kid-proof hay loft ladder (I hope!)

It's a scrap of beadboard paneling leftover from our kitchen bathroom remodel several years ago. It slips in and out easily, and so far so good!

Unfortunately, it will probably deter the cats too.

Riley

But some things can't be helped.

Kid Proofing the Hay Loft © April 2019 by

Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

The Hayloft Challenge

Thankfully, we haven't had to buy much hay this year. We were able to grow and harvest much of our own, just not a year's worth. So far this winter we've bought two round bales of hay.

In the past, we've just rolled it to wherever we're storing it. But the new barn has a hayloft, which presents the challenge of getting that heavy awkward bale up there!

What you're probably wondering, is why not get smaller square bales? They'd be infinitely easier to handle. The answer is that my Frugal Self won't let me! I can't get past the math.

Small square bales weigh around 45 pounds and sell for $7 - 9 (or more) each, so we're looking at somewhere around 16 - 20¢ per pound of hay. A round 4x5 bale weighs between 600 to 800 pounds and costs $45 - 65, making it 7 - 8¢ per pound. See what I mean? I can get twice the hay if I buy large round bales. That monetary savings, however, comes with a different price - moving it!

The right equipment to get these round bales into a hayloft (or to stack them) is either a hay fork attached to the front of the tractor or a tong-like fork that lets one grab and hoist the bale with a block and tackle. We haven't found this kind of equipment in our price range yet so we've had to improvise. Here's how we got the first round bale into the loft.

This actually worked somewhat okay, until it was time to pull it into the loft. That proved to be a real chore. This time, we decided to try something different.

The first thing was to move the manual hoist from the beam outside the barn doors to the center post in the hayloft.

Then Dan laid a piece of angle iron inside the doors and hooked two ratchet straps to it.

He set two pairs of 2x4s on the trailer and leaned them against the barn wall. The straps ran from the angle iron, down the 2x4s, under the bale, around the back, and back over the top. They were attached to a gambrel which was attached to the hoist chain.

The hoist made it fairly easy to lift the bale.

Because of the length of the hoist chain, we had to stop several times to readjust it. Below it's resting on two more 2x4s as we pulled out the chain and reattached it.

Once we got it to the loft doors, it needed to be adjusted again. But this time we had nothing to rest the bale on while we loosened and adjusted the chain.

So Dan gave it a boost with the tractor boom.

The boom raised it higher but not quite in the door.

From there we both pulled on the top straps and in it came!

Ah, sweet success! What a great feeling. Sometimes we think that maybe one of these days we'll find the proper equipment and the job will be all the easier. On the other hand, maybe one of these days we'll be able to grow a year's worth of hay. That would be even better.

The Hayloft Challenge © January 2019 by

Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Hayloft Doors (with Barn Quilt)

Hay Loft Doors (with Barn Quilt) © July 2018 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Hay Loft!

Materials

+ beautiful weather

+ first cutting of hay drying

= motivation. Dan got the hay loft floor down in two days time.

Then it was time for our first small harvest of hay. How'd we get it up there? Awkwardly!

We had a forecast for deluge right around the corner, so we managed the best we could.

Dan plans to put an easier system in place eventually, but for now, this got the job done.

Besides railing for the hay chute we need to put a door on the loft. Because of the forecast, we used a tarp to keep rain out.

What do the goats think about the progress?

Meh

They do love our homegrown hay, though, and prefer it to the supplemental hay we buy. Our goal is to eventually grow all our own hay and hopefully this year we'll make good progress on that goal.

Hay Loft! © May 2018 by Leigh at  

http://www.5acresandadream.com/