This is a brief demonstration of how we make hay using scythes, hayforks and hay rakes. For more info on this topic, see scytheconnection.com/handcrafted-hay.
Much respect for these people. Gathering up those square bales onto the wagons, (145 bales) and stacking them up in the large hayshed as a kid, wasn't that bad after all.
I've known about scythes since I was old enough to walk. My grandfather didn't use them for haying by the time I was born but he did up until the late 30s when he was in his 30s. They had a dairy farm and he and two of his brothers did the work with their father from the time that their older brothers left in 1917. They grew the vast majority of what they ate had apple, pear, and nut trees, grew hay and grain etc. When he was in his 70s he still used the scythe to cut areas where a tractor or mower couldn't go and he did it easier and as fast or faster than someone could cut the same steep hillsides with a string trimmer. I regret never having the chance to meet Peter Vido. I think that talking with him might be akin to talking to Thoreau.
I could use a couple of weeks of work like that to clear my head. My grandfather was of the same type as them (except crazy and obsessed with proving that nobody could outwork him - I like their version a little better - work hard without making it something negative), and he always told me that you couldn't clear your mind without breaking a sweat. I couldn't physically do what they're doing after 18 years of white collar work, though. It'd take months to work up to that, but I really admire their efficiency/technique.
after 18 years in the bubble what you may lack in physical strength & endurance you make up for in sheer angst & frustration. you may outwork the farmiest of farmers, kimosabe.
As soon as we get figure out a way to get past RU-vid's 10 min. time limit (for the 14 min. clip) and have a chance to upload it on high speed internet! Hope to get it up here within a week. Thanks for your patience!
Thank you Sir for sharing your beautiful way of living, and your family farm. I just bought a homestead, and learning the natural way has been a challenge. I love it and one day hope to have my farm up and running like you and your family god bless.
They aren't paying for heavy metal. Others with more hay to make might pay someone to cut and tender their hay and avoid the expense of maintenance, insurance and the price to purchase the equipment and have it sitting dormant most days. Some use draft animals. John Deers don't make baby tractors but draft mares can make more draft horses.
I have visited this family and there farm....Don't knock it as there is alot to be learned here!,i have never seen people so content and happy! Maybe this is what it takes?Seems like the more machinery and obligations you have the more stressed and unhappy you become!
Going barefoot is the gentlest way of walking and can symbolise a way of living - being authentic, vulnerable, sensitive to our surroundings. It’s the feeling of enjoying warm sand beneath our toes, or carefully making our way over sharp rocks in the darkness. It’s a way of living that has the lightest impact, removing the barrier between us and nature. - Adele Coombs, “Barefoot Dreaming”
I was just thinking, obviously this is not in the South, as fire ants would eat you up walking bare feet! How I miss walking in the grass without shoes...
Like your video , very interesting. However this clearly wouldn't work in Nova Scotia. Due dries off around 10:30 to 11:00 am . Then begins to set back in around 5:30 PM. Sure wish we had your weather at haying time. Oh well we never really suffer from droughts. Thanks for sharing . Looks like a beautiful place
This is exactly how we used to make hey in Poland when I was a youngster some 40 years ago. Hard work, low productivity, thank God it has been long forgotten.
Can you let me know what type of grass it is that you are harvesting. I am very curious about it. I would also like to know how many times a year you can cut it and whether it comes back year after year.
It takes this type of people who were willing to work hard using methods of another generation of farmers to be successful in supporting themselves in today,s culture
It may become necessary to put up hay as inexpensively as one can. A hayfield planned to turn animals into & rotate (Joel Salatin) 1 or 2 people max. Scythe to cut hay, windrows to dry, 4 tine hayfork to load in place hay-stacks. No barn or heavy-fueled equipment.
Never done hay that way on our farm. moving machine, hay rake after it dried and then on the wagon to the barn or haystack still work our way or the way she is doing it
It would be nice to know what country this video was produced in and when it was filmed, very impressive haying by this hard working woman, is this an Amish Farm.?
You have a very interesting channel, beautiful videos, I also live in the village, and I also harvest hay, Good luck to you dear friend. And I would also like you to have subtitles on your channel, I don't understand your language, but I really like the videos.
I've been a farmer all my life, but I have to say, ain't never seen anything like this before, she is as good as it gets..... I'd consider myself one lucky son of gun to meet a girl like this.
Tuttua hommaa täällä Kuhmonkin "Finland" kulmilla. Poikasena sai tehdä joka kesä. Hyvin heinät kuivuivat. Laitettiin sitten parin päivän päästä seipäälle, ja jos oli suotuisat ilmat niin usein saatiin viedä suoraan latoon.
I did this,got stung by hornet on ankle. There are small gray hornets nests all over my field this year. They are down in the grass and weeds, little grey balls (not down in dirt). Ihave never seen so many before.
The laste time, I saw this it was in Bosnia, In north America I was thinking this is past away like my grand pa. My father show me this but I don,t have the hability to do that.
My block of land is far less than theirs. Yesterday a 250hp tractor turned up to mow 15 minuets later I shut the gate as he left. Today another 250hp tractor turned up (twice actually) Tonight it's all bailed and wrapped. Thing is she looks pretty fit and I don't. Is modern life really better?
How much work was done? 1/4 acre per day? And if you notice, at 2:20, the woman doing the work changes. So it takes 2 people to do 1/4 acre of hay per day. So using this method you need 8 people to do every acre of hayfield per day. Do you realize how little is getting done here?
I worked on a farm as a 12 year old boy in the 1960. I earned 50 cents a day picking up bales of hay and heave up onto a wagon. It taught you how to be a man and to use your muscle and to work hard and not be a wimp.
You must have worked for your dad to only earn .50 a day. That would be $4.30 a day in today's dollars. Not much for the work even a 12 year old could give. I don't doubt you could do more work than most 12 year olds today.
I did not work for my father. My brothers and I had to work on the neighborhood farm so we could all contribute to the family food budget. We were poor and didn't have much cash to shop at a grocery store. So the farmer paid us with food such as goat and cow milk, corn, blueberries, strawberries, animal meat and other foods we could use to put on the table. The 50 cents was just a little extra earned but the work provided to get the food was more important. Looking back, the physical labor taught us how to be strong men and to be thankful for what we have.
this is fascinating, and I tell you what, these young ladies after doing this for years, their kids aren't going to talk back to them,,lol,, and as for me,, call me weird, but you gotta love a Woman who can kick your butt.!!..
