I grew up looking at pictures and drawings of the loose stacks of hay out in the fields. I never thought that I would ever do anything other than bale hay. My opinion changed after my wife and I bought our little homestead with a large storage shed. Our field is small and it makes sense to do everything by hand from the cutting to the drying, to the stacking. The process is really simple to explain but a lot of fun to see. This doesn't describe the fancy stacks necessary to dry and store hay out in the field. This is a method that works great for covered storage.

Haymaking is definitely one of my favorite things to do on my little farm. I have enjoyed it since I was young and I enjoy it even more now that I am doing it all by hand. Haymaking has helped me build a closer connection with the world around me. I hope to share a taste of this joy with you as well as sharing the method I use to make hay. The second part of haymaking, (drying the hay) starts after cutting the hay and is just as important as any of the steps in the haymaking process. 

by Jared Neibaur

There are many joys in country living and among the ones at the top of the list are those that include struggle and dedication. Near the top of my list is haymaking. I love every aspect of haymaking from tending and irrigating the field to feeding the animals and everything in between. This is a joy that I have carried with me since my youth where I used heavy equipment to cut, bale, haul, and feed hay on our family ranch. I have since learned some old-time techniques to scale things down to work on my little homestead where the large machinery doesn't make sense (my field is 0.4 acres). Though the work is more hands on, I have found that I enjoy it so much more.