Hay

 This is the first year in about twenty that we haven't had hay cut off our own field to use for feeding my (and boarder) horses.  That's because what used to be my hayfield has been, first in 2023 and the rest of it this spring, fenced and subdivided into pastures for grazing. Which, in all honesty, is what we'd planted them for in the first place--to be pastures--and it took sooooooo long to actually get the barn and fencing done that for years we cut and baled the pastures as hayfield.

Anyway. . .  We did mark out and plant a new hay field last fall, but, honestly, that one isn't growing well.  Not well enough to cut for hay this year.

Which means I've had the (NOT) joy of locating and buying hay grown--and baled--by others.  That has been an up and down experience this summer.  Some really not wonderful hay that was delivered to me sight unseen right after our blue truck got totaled (I know better than to do this, but they answered all my questions and I [wrongly] thought they were honest people bringing me good hay at a time when my loft was almost totally empty and I had no truck.  I will never do that again.)  Some great hay that I had to pass up on because of logistics like not having a truck, my elevator (still) being broken, DH being out of town at the time, etc. Some decent hay I was able to pick up at the local weekly hay auction when I had both DH and a truck available, but only about 50 bales worth.

No where near the goal of having the hayloft full before winter hits.  Which, for my loft, is about 400 bales.

In August, I got lucky.  Or maybe the stars aligned just right.  Or maybe God had DH finally prioritize my hay situation and make himself available and (somewhat) willing to get it into the loft.  However it happened, we were able to get several wagons of hay from a local farmer.  The first wagon we hauled when DH had that borrowed truck from work.

One good wagonload on the right.

A week or so later, near the end of August, the farmer had cut another hayfield and had three wagons of hay off it for sale.  Knowing our truck situation, the farmer very kindly offered to loan us their truck to haul wagons with.  So, haul we did.

DH atop the wagon, waiting for me to grab my long-sleeved shirt and mask so I can stack hay.

We put up exactly 298 bales of hay from that farmer while having their truck to pull wagons with.  Really, it was a win-win situation.  They sold hay right off the wagon, and didn't need to store it in their barn (or have their wagons tied up holding unneeded hay while it's still haying season), and we not only got my loft pretty much stuffed for the winter but also didn't have to borrow a truck plus put a lot of miles on it driving far for hay.

The bales DH had thrown into the loft by the time I got up there.

The elevator is still inoperable (DH, I think, is holding out on fixing it in hopes of finding an affordable one with an electric motor instead of PTO-driven like ours), so DH threw as much hay from each wagon as he could up into the loft.  When he couldn't throw any more because of being either too low on the wagon or the bales weren't firm enough for good footing down lower, we used the method he'd devised over the winter of putting a large pallet on the tractor forks, loading the pallet with hay bales, lifting the pallet up to the loft, and me reaching out with the hay hook to pull bales off the pallet and into the loft.

Tractor and pallet, seen from the loft, awaiting the next wagon of hay.

Loft getting more full.

I feel much less stressed now with my loft full for the winter.  I can stop worrying about coordinating the finding of a truck to use, good weather, DH's availability and good hay being for sale in a 30 mile radius all at the same time.  Life is good.

Stuffed almost as much as I could possibly fit in.