Remarkably there are still a few hayfields in this town, including ours.  One good thing about this continued dry spell is that it is ideal weather for cutting hay.  Ours is half cut as of today.

The challenge is when and how….hay is a very, very weather dependent crop.  You need a string of days without rain in mid June.  Thunderstorm season.  That was fairly doable when the people making hay were full time farmers.  Not so much these days. The man doing our hayfield works a full time job and cuts hay, mostly for his cows, on the side, in between, nearly at night, by himself. His fields are scattered up and down two hills on both sides of the town center, as are the fields of the biggest operation in town. I have to give him full credit for his determination and willingness to work hard.  I suspect he took today off to do some cutting and he doesn’t work the sort of job that exactly hands out vacation time.

So, as a PSA, for next few weeks in New England, mind the blind curves….there may well be a tractor with a cutter bar, or a tedder, or baler, or a string of wagons taking up the lane.