Cutting Conditioning Hay

Cutting Conditioning Hay

I became aware of conditioning hay as a child.  My father cut hay with a sickle mower.  It would take 3 to 4 days for the hay to cure, aka dry.  It had to be dry because it would spontaneously combust if it was not.  Many barn fires were caused by this anomaly.  Losing your barn to a fire was an extremely bad thing to farmer.

We heard of a hay conditioner which would cause hay to cure in two days.  Dad tried one and it worked as advertised.  To my knowledge, he did not purchase one.

Today, they have built the conditioner into the same unit with mower.  The whole process happens in one pass.  I saw Kieth have to wait until the third day once when we had cool and cloudy weather for two days.  I have produced a video about this process.

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Lloyd Cabin Video

Lloyd Cabin

This cabin was originally in service circa 1885 as a family, Sunday, gathering place.  It then belonged to Phillip Reed and is being restored on this site by his Great-Great-Grandchildren.  It is nearing completion.  It is being decorated internally by Carrie and Andrew to evoke remembrances of times past.

If you are curious about the site, I have prepared a video sets forth the view.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Dark Female

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Dark Female

I came across this butterfly feeding on the Prairie Dock blooms.  They are high and it provided an almost white background.

There are other female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails whose coloration more closely resembles the male.

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Fragrant Hosta

Fragrant Hosta

Kieth has these growing by his lane to the hay field.  They produce beautiful flowers.  I don't smell well any more but I caught the wonderful fragrance of these flowers.

Fragrant Hosta

I had not really paid attention to hosta plants previously because I did not care much for their flowers.  I discovered that these are related to the lily which is obvious.

Fragrant Hosta

They like shade as other hostas do.  The blossoms remind me of easter lilies.  I will certainly consider them the next time I am shopping for hosta plants.

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Baling Hay

Cutting Hay

Keith uses a machine called a "Mower-conditioner."  It cuts the hay and crimps the stems for faster curing.

Raking Hay

The cured, dried, hay is then raked into windrows.   The racking is done to optimize the function of the device, baler, to follow.

Baling Hay

Keith makes two kinds of bales.  In this case he is making "square" bales.  They are not actually square but have square corners. 

Baling Hay

I used to load hay back in the day.  It seems that I loaded behind a baler once which had a thrower built onto the chute like Kieth's does.  Mostly, I had to pull the bales up onto the wagon, more work.  I used to think I had a large load when the total reached 100 bales.  Kieth puts upward of 200 bales on one wagon.

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Hay Bale Shadows

Round Bales

Kieth makes round bales with a big machine.

Round Bale

The bales are big, round and HEAVY.  Stay back and don't let them roll onto you!

They provided me an interesting backdrop for the drone shadow.

Round Bale

Keith can haul only 12 to 18 of these on a long trailer.

I read that we have been making round bales for about 100 years.  My father used what we called "square bales."  They weigh about 80 pounds and a man can handle them.  I did in the day.  My first awareness of round bales was the Alis Chalmers Round baler.

I borrowed this picture from the Web.  You had to rake two windrows together.  It had a greater capacity that a square baler.  You can view it in action here 

My pictures of Kieth in action making round and square bales are yet to come.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 A friend reminded me that the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail are active this year.  They drink nectar thus they land on several plants.  This one is on a Tall Ironweed.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The Prairie Dock is also in bloom and they like it's nectar too.  Prairie Dock is taller, as a rule, than Iron Weed.  I find that I am shooting with the blue sky as a background.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

When did you get to view the underside of a butterfly like this?

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

I shall remember the precious moments of photographing these insects.  Summer is nearly over and school is starting.  Celebrate this summer with Nat King Cole.

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