A few posts back, "deep end of the loom" (love that name!) asked me to tell a bit more about the haying process. If you want my version, read on. If you'd like to read the official wikipedia version, click here . Haying happens in three steps: cutting, raking and baling. This process takes several days, as the hay must be dry when baled. Moist hay molds and heats up and has even been known to spontaneously combust, burning down the barn. Gotta have dry hay. This first photo is of our haybine. The haybine not only cuts the hay, it also crimps each piece of long grass in several places, to allow for faster drying. We usually cut hay in the early afternoon, when the dew is gone. When we're done, long row of cut grass lie waiting. The hay is allowed to dry for two to three days, depending on wind and sun conditions. Obviously, the more wind and sun the days hold, the quicker the hay will dry. When we feel like the hay is nearly dry, we go out with the rake. There are diff
Winter is very grey here in our part of Michigan. We escaped recently to a nearby botanical garden to enjoy their held-over Christmas displays, with decorated trees, a miniature cityscape, trains and lovely plants everywhere.
Cyclamen are one of my favorites, too! :) I have a darling pix of our daughter at 4 y/o in front of a huge planting of cyclamen at WDW.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we can grow them outside. I've just seen them as houseplants.
Loved visiting your blog and will visit your Etsy site next.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in Flat Rock til 1956 then moved to Ca.
Lona, Great pictures of the beautiful garden - they make me wish for spring and some GREEN!
ReplyDeleteThank you to Shady Side Farm for your generous donation of a prize for the sock contest at Shepherd's Weekend. I also really enjoyed the sock that your husband entered as well.
I am going to make some changes to the contest for next year and I hope you bring more socks to enter in 2012!
Jules, then we have MORE in common, don't we? =)
ReplyDeleteKathy, welcome to my blog. I see you are a sock knitter, as well! I had to look up Flat Rock, as I'd never heard of it. You could have thrown snowballs into Canada from where you used to live. Hullo from a fellow Michigander.
Uglydog, thanks for running the sock and skein competitions. We like to encourage all the positive things that happen at Shepherd's Weekend, and it's easy enough for us to donate a ball of yarn. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I wish I could have seen that garden! I'm starting to feel green-deprived too. I could just imagine the wonderful green, humid, warm smell of the greenhouses. Time to start winter sowing and dreaming of spring.
ReplyDelete