Well we spoke to another neighbour (non-farming) who spoke to someone they know who puts some sheep on their land and he came and cut it for us. So it’s down at least. He said the reason he’d come was because he’d been in our position before. Said next time get it all lined up before it needs doing, which is what we’ve been trying to do. So he got paid and as we always say to everyone that we think might be useful to do swapsies with, let us know if they ever need a hand with anything. I seriously think though around here people aren’t too keen on taking you up on offers of help for fear of being in your pocket. We’ve certainly never had to try and ask for help so much before.
One guy said he might be able to small bale if it’s cut. He has a tedder too but didn’t mention about that. The guy that cut it said he could maybe come and ted it but he lives further away than the one with the small baler. So we’re maybe thinking try and turn by hand, try and find someone to ted it the last time, and cross fingers for getting it baled. Not looking likely though as we left a message and not heard back. Which’ll be a shame as it’s money down the drain. But at least we know for next year not to bother!! It had to be cut one way or another so hey ho!
Perhaps we are expecting too much. We are eager to throw ourselves into a farming community where everyone lends a hand to each other but hopefully we’ll get to know more people the longer we’re here.
tommytink,
Having been in your situation many years ago I understand your predicament .
As I understand it Its 1.5 acres, not a lot ,so I suggest you start turning by hand , watch a few on line videos to get the idea and get help if possible , Its repetitive to start with but you will get the hang of it and you will ache, a lot.
The first spread is the worst as the grass is heavy and still full of moisture. but it gets lighter each time you work it,trust me.
If you get to the hay is made stage and there is
absolutely ,positively, defiantly no chance of baling , even bribing someone is worth a try, then you still have an option that you must plan for in any case, and that is to make a hay stack*,
properly , again there are videos, this is important , all the time and effort invested cannot be allowed to go to waste.
I know this, in our first year my wife and I did this with 8 acres. Our learning curve was steep, very steep, as "Incommers" no one wanted to help the white settlers, our first equipment was a trailed fingerbar mower and a converted horse drawn hay rake , both from the "nettle patch" , the land rover towed them , gathering the hay for stacking is the hardest bit.
Make a start. when people see you making an effort you may have a better chance of getting assistance, but dont waste that grass.
*if you do make a haystack dont cover it with a tarp its not a short cut, lesson learnt.
