Another Dream Come True

When I was 8, I visited my great aunts farm in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba. A bonus was I was able to see my Great Grandfather’s farm which was just a few miles down the road. No one lived there anymore but all the buildings were still standing. Even though I never had the pleasure of meeting him he has been an inspiration to me. My trip there was wonderful. Looking at the fields being hayed, avoiding cow pies, feeding chickens and loving every minute, a little farmer was born.

Since that day I’ve followed many different pursuits but always came back to the dream of having a farm. It’s now been one year that we’ve been here and it’s proved an amazing adventure with so much more to come.

This week had a fantastic surprise, my fields were hayed. This may not mean much to you but to me it solidified that I had a farm. After months of looking for someone to come and hay, I finally convinced my fabulous neighbor. I paid him for gas and he took all the bales, save two, for his cattle. It was a win-win. Both of us happy and my fields are maintained.

It takes about 3 days of good weather to make hay. First you cut, next, as I call it, “fluff” (I’m sure there is a more technical term), this lets the grass get more air to dry out. Then you rake it into lines and bale it. He has the equipment to do round bales and my barn was made for squares, so I’ll have to store my two in the stables.

The kids had a wonderful time running around the fields watching the haying. I was super excited too. Once the bales were rolled I took the kids up for more photos.

It was late in the evening when my neighbor finished taking all of his bales back to his own barn. He left two by the riding ring for me to roll down to my barn. Unfortunately the electric wire for the pig fencing blocked his way so I had a job to do.

The next day rain was predicted to come overnight. I needed to get them inside. Well, what’s a girl to do but just get it done. One of the bales was a little lopsided and it rolled onto it’s end. Ok I’ll take the other down first. It was slightly nerve wracking. These bales weigh roughly 800 to 950 pounds. As long as I went slow things were manageable.

My view rolling the bale down

I lost it a couple times nearly being run over at the bottom but I made it to the barn around the obstacle course of garden pallets and plant sheds. I had thought of placing both bales into an unused horse stall. Once I reached the threshold at the door of the barn though I had a predicament. For the life of me I could not roll it over the 4 inch step, then I was very annoyed to find it would not roll back. Pushing it out was a real pain in the you know what. My feet kept slipping out from under me. I tried levering it, jumping on it, even kicking the darn thing. Finally adrenaline and pure frustration won out and I got it to roll back out. YES!

The wind up!

I rolled it back about 8 feet from the barn for a wind up. Pushing as hard as I could I rolled it towards the door entrance just missing the door frame. It rolled up on the threshold and slowed almost to a stop. I pushed with all my might swearing and in it rolled. AHA! I might also mention at least 20 chickens were watching these proceedings and I managed not to roll over a single one. I maneuvered the bale into position at the side of the stables. One down one to go.

Ok I need to be smart about this. Levering did not work so… time to get the Honda. I drove the SUV up to the bale and set up a line to pull the bale back onto it’s side.

I got in and slowly pulled forward. It’s working! It flipped onto it’s side and then right back over. “Are you kidding me?” I got out, wrestled with the now tangled line and reset for take 2. This time I went extra slow. It flipped over and then Argh! Rolled upright again! I got out and frankly I’d had enough. I did the unwise thing of putting myself between the car and the bale and pushed with all my might. It must have been slightly off kilter or because the bale was a little uneven but… Victorious! It rolled onto it’s side. I untied the line from the Honda and moved the car down to the barn. Moving this bale was incredibly difficult as it kept rolling off to the side and I was starting to lose my cool. However, I did it. I now have two bales in the stables from my own hay field and that’s pretty cool.

I was exhausted and drenched with sweat. Yes, yes, I know. I need a tractor, I’m working on it.