Winter Stores

The feeling of autumn surrounds us here on the farm. The yellow school bus passes by at 7:30 every morning and the mornings and evenings are cooler than before. Even the leaves are starting to change to shades of yellow and orange. While it may still be summer for another two weeks you can still feeling hints of the approaching season. Which means we must think ahead to the winter months to come.

The ewe lambs waiting to be fed.

Three Saturdays ago I made a trip to our local hay dealer. We get our hay from a place about a two minute drive from our house. It is only open on Saturday from 8 am to noon. So trying to beat any long lines I arrived just shortly after they opened, made my purchase and inquired about some local grass hay. After unloading the alfalfa at home it was decided that I should return and buy a ton of the grass. Upon my second return with the grass we decided that the grass was such a great deal that we would like more. We made a call and ended up reserving the remaining five tons. However, we had to wait to pick up the hay until after state fair.

Enjoying some of our new grass hay.

So yesterday was the day we finally went to pick up our coveted hay. We left bright and early, got the first ton and returned to unload. Shortly after we started unloading the first ton our friend and her son arrived with their truck to help. With four people working the unloading and stacking went a lot faster. Having two trucks bringing loads of hay in made the processes move in a quick steady stream. As soon as one truck was empty it left to pick up its next load and returned just about the time the other truck was empty. We managed to bring in five tons of hay in less than four hours. We are very thankful for our friends who came to help.

The last ton.

It is such a relief to have this hay in the barn. We estimate this will last us until January right before we start lambing. We are just one step closer to being ready for winter.