chapter 531

7/28/2019

Haying Season

making hay while the sun shines

Had the chance to go back to farming last week when nephew Tyler Kanches put up a notice on Facebook looking for helpers with the haying crop. It has been on my bucket list for a while and it was so much fun to work on the hay wagon stacking square bales like the old days. It was over 90 degrees out and the hay seed and dust was all over the place getting into your eyes, ears and nostrils. But the feeling came back of riding on a hay wagon jostling around as you try to hang on then catch a bale as it shoots out of the "thrower". Most of the operations I worked on starting 6 decades ago had the simple conveyor method. Sometimes we just picked them up off the field though the most hay I processed was chopped into a wagon where we pulled it off with a rake into the conveyor.

This was the first farm I had worked on when I got my official "working papers" at 14 years old 1959. The farmer was also named Tyler (Pond) back in Virgil. I found his obituary stating he died in 1990 at 82 years old. Back when I worked for him that made him only 51. Shocking as I thought he was about 82 back then. A kind of shriveled up skinny old coot but a real nice guy to work for. The 50 cents and hour plus lunch was de rigueur  and rode my bike about a mile or two to get to his Daisy Hollow farm. 

Was down in Virgil so just stopped by and met the current owner, Fran Levy ( Facebook Page). She raises goats and horses along with this B & B. Has taught trail riding for years and moved here from Brooklyn about 10 years ago. Sells goat products and art glass. Very welcoming and entertaining. Thought these might have been the same hay wagons I had worked on but she said no. Believe we had open flat wagons mostly. The hill in the background was one of our fields. It was bumpy and steep coming down to cross Virgil Creek and if you didn't stack properly the hay could come off or you could fall off and be killed by the wagon wheels.

But it felt great to be out on the open field doing a job accomplishing something. Sweating, shirt off getting sunburnt and chaffed up arms and legs by handling the rough cut ends of timothy, clover, alfalfa, rye mixtures. But it was rewarding. Building muscle and a work ethic that lasts a lifetime.

We used to back the wagon into the upper level of the barn here then throw the bails up to the 2 higher levels in the loft or mow on each side. We used a conveyor elevator in some situations. 

It was hot and dusty up there. Breathed in a lot of particulates. I can smell of the old barns with the hand hewn beams, pigeon droppings, and hay dust now. 

The barn swallows and their nests were always a part of the barn environment. Did my share of whitewashing painting too.

After looking at this picture I'm noticing the red barn siding showing thru the old window. I helped paint that siding years ago at one point in time.

In a broader view you can see Fran has special in horses, trail riding training in particular. But the barn has been modified as it was a dairy cow operation when I worked there.

You can't ride Benny unless you are experienced Fran says. He's her "first born son". The first horse she ever owned, a mustang out of Mexico about 23 years ago.

These two are Rio and Corey. They seemed pretty friendly.

All of a sudden Fran opened the gate behind the house and a dozen of these Anglo Nubian breed of goats came hustling out. It was comical and they were so friendly and well behaved. She just let them out free not fearing they would venture onto the road. They went out into the barn and she knew they would come back up for a stroll into the apple orchard.  Colleen was smiten with them in this video clip .

Grandpa Hayden Olmsted harvesting loose hay back around 1926 or so on the Virgil dairy farm. Old Doll was used as a single draft horse to pull the wagon with the hay loader attached to the rear. As they moved down the wind row of cut hay the mechanical hay loaded would convey the loose hay to the wagon where the two would distribute it (video of the action such a hoot). Arnold Timmerman the hired hand helps with pitch fork on top. They pulled the load down the hill then backed the wagon up the slope into the mid level of the barn where they would then pitch the hay into the lofts or hay mows.

I only deciphered this bit of history this week from fragments of information on old photos and touching up this photo. Not many people care about any of this. They just plod on like a work horse with blinkers on, giddy-up. But I care, I think it's in my blood. But we all just plod along don't we with our own set of blinders shielding out whatever particular distractions or inconveniences we may happen to choose.

This should really be the centerpiece of the story although I like the dramatic effect of my top picture. But the story tellers are gone and only fragments of the story remain. Those people were the ones who REALLY lived the life of haying. I did come across some Youtube Channel documentation of current haying practices. Our Wyoming Life does a great job explaining farming practices and the current ton round bale operations. Farming is such a hard and rewarding lifestyle although it can break a person as well. I tried unsuccessfully to get the story of my old neighbor who got kicked into his wagon when he went to unplug his bale kicker hay machine. It broke his back and he had to be rescued by neighbors to then undergo extensive hospital care. Later on he succumbed too early in life, I believe to an accumulation of toxins from various farm practice procedures. Many ways to be maimed and mutilated on a farm.

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