Bales of Glory: The Triumph of the 2024 Hay Mission
Those locals yucking it up at my expense had no idea what this hay represented...
The raucous laughter carried across the parking lot as I stepped down from the cab of the truck and I knew they were making fun of me and my many bales of glory. From under the umbrella of the patio table outside the ice cream shop, they made witty jokes to their comrades, their shiny trucks parked nearby. In contrast, the 19 year-old work-horse with flatbed in tow, laden down by our last load of hay, sat adjacent. They were locals, but no one that I knew and obviously they didn’t know me, so why should it bother me that they made fun of me or my truck? I invite you to get yourself a cuppa and join me for the latest update from the farm!
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I was sweaty and stanky, muscles and joints aching in protest, skin cut up and itching from working with hay all weekend. But I was damned proud of what my small team had accomplished. 400 bales of hay is no laughing matter when you're under the gun to get it all tucked up away, safe from the elements. Those locals yucking it up at my expense had no idea what this hay represented. They had no clue about the recent crowdfunding campaign that helped buy the hay, no clue that it was a single-mother trying her best to manage her business, and no concept of the ordeal it is for just 3 people to move so much hay in such a short amount of time.
Event of the Year
The message came Tuesday morning from Gwen Hilton at Hyl-Tun Farm in Starks. We had a good stretch of weather coming up and they would be cutting hay. Were we interested in any of this?
The annual hay purchase is the biggest event of the year for our small farm. It’s a major financial expense and a massive undertaking to move 400 bales 21 miles from Starks to New Portland. To make it happen, I have to borrow truck and trailer, recruit extra hands, and prepare the entire farm for the 3-day marathon.
Thankfully, just the week before, I’d deposited the remaining funds needed for the hay purchase. I had the money, and all of my pieces were lined up in anticipation of the big day. We were as ready as we were gonna be.
“Let’s do it!” I told Gwen.
The rest of the week was spent bringing all those pieces into play before Saturday dawned.
The Pieces:
Truck & Trailer: I reached out to Dana Perkins at North Anson Auto to finalize plans for the use of his truck and flatbed trailer. The same one we used last year, a big step up from the days when we used my Subaru to haul the hay. It’s much safer and better suited to the job, but much more intimidating for a solo lady-farmer.
The Crew: With a very small circle, it comes down to family to help this farmer with the hay. I put my 17yo son, BraeTek, and my sister, Maria, on red alert. Rather than go to his father’s as he typically does on Fridays, BraeTek stayed on the farm, and my sister gave up her weekend, driving from Farmington to be on hand both Saturday and Sunday.
Hay Conveyor: BraeTek and I brought our prized hay conveyor from it’s resting place at the edge of the woods, and put it on the lawn in front of the house. Before the conveyor came to Runamuk last year, we hauled hay one bale at a time up into the loft using a rope-and-pulley system—and a lot of muscle-power. The conveyor makes a world of difference in an already grueling task.
Set Up the Conveyor: We learned the hard way last year to ask for help in setting the conveyor up into the mouth of the loft. So I recruited the guys at Wolf Classics (they’re retrofitting land rovers in the former school building next door) to come lift the thing into place.
Prepare the Farm: With that done, I spent Friday cleaning the house in advance of guests coming into the farmstay over the weekend. I’d warned the visitors they would have to park out back to leave the driveway open for the truck to come through, and that I’d be unable to make them breakfast as the Hay Mission is all-consuming.
To get them through the next few meals, I made extra food for the dogs (yes, I make my own dog food), pre-packaging it so we could just pull it out and serve in between hay-trips.
As long as I had the truck, my car would sit at North Anson Auto and I would be unable to haul water onto the field. I needed everyone set up for the 2-3 days it would take us to achieve our objective. So, I hauled several extra buckets of water onto the field for Beebe and the sheep.
How Hay is Made
For readers who might not be familiar with how hay is made, here’s how it works…
Once the pasture grasses get long enough, hay farmers watch the weather for a good stretch for cutting. They need a minimum of 3 days between any rain or showers to ensure the grass is dry before and after cutting. So day 1, the grass is standing, but drying after a rain. On day 2, they cut and ted the hay (basically this is stirring and tossing the cut grasses to aid in the drying process.
If interested, I found this video for you. You’ll see the process and listen to this farmer talk about the work that’s gone into creating these magnificent fields for the express purpose of turning them into hay for livestock feed. They really are just beautiful.
Day 3 they come through first with a machine to collect the hay into long lines. Then they’ll bring the baler, which picks the hay up off the ground, tightly packing it into a bale before kicking it out—either onto the ground or up into a hay wagon. Below is a video demonstrating a similar model to what they’re using at Hyl-Tun (we tried to get a video of that, but the quality wasn’t good).
Our hay farmers at Hyl-Tun Farm have more fields than hay wagons, and because of this they coordinate closely with purchasers to ensure wagons get emptied in a timely fashion. Farmers and homesteaders arrive at designated times to fill their trucks and empty the wagons, which are then sent back to work and filled again with more bales.
The Transaction
Another truck was loading when we arrived, but Gwen waved me on as I pulled truck, trailer and crew, past their barn and down over the knoll to the waiting hay wagon.
We have a longstanding working relationship, the Hiltons and I, for it was these very fields where I kept bees for so many years before finally buying a farm of my own. Gwen and Ernie were instrumental in growing my farm-business even as a landless farmer. They supported my farmraiser campaign, allowing me to use their historic barn for a party in favor of that effort. Later, they loaned me their horse trailer to move Runamuk and all our worldly belongings to our new home.
Now I can’t imagine buying my hay from anyone else, so I’m quite partial to their rolling fields.
I completed the transaction with Gwen, handing over the $2000 cash in exchange for the 400 bales of high-quality organic hay at $5/bale off the field. A steal of a deal these days and worth the extra effort it takes to buy it in bulk like this.
And then we got to work, my crew and I.
Loading Up!
These last 2 years it’s just been the 3 of us doing hay—my son, my sister and I—and we’ve become a fairly smooth team. Having spent a summer haying as a teen and as the resident farmer, I get the job of stacking—both onto truck and trailer, and then into the loft. BraeTek unloads the wagons and orchestrates the conveyor. Maria is our official bale-counter and assists in the loading and unloading.
Not every sister is so enthusiastic about hauling hay, but Maria looks forward to the event every year and brings a lot of energy to our party. She’s got that “cool-auntie” vibe going on and as a teacher for freshman english, she has plenty of experience with surly teenagers, so BraeTek responds well to her.
Since my last break-up, he’s had no choice but to step up and it’s a lot to ask of both of them. Neither can match my muscle or stamina. What’s more, Maria is a diabetic, so I have to watch out for her, ensuring she doesn’t over-do or that I’m not asking too much. Thus, I work extra-hard to make it easier on my family volunteers.
We have a good time, though, teasing each other and cracking jokes as family is want to do.
Our goal was to make 3 trips with 133-134 bales each run to get the 400 bales, stacking first in the back of the truck, and then onto the flatbed. But it’s the tying it all down that stresses me the most.
Hay Missions Gone-By
The very first year I bought my hay in bulk like this, I used the Subaru and a borrowed utility trailer to do the job. This proved to be wholly inadequate, as I overworked my vehicle to the point that one of the cylinders was damaged and the engine was never the same. That year, I went an entire winter without a vehicle until I could replace the engine.
We also lost a few bales off the top on that trip, which set me into a panic behind the wheel. I went to yank the car off the road, forgetting that I had a trailer-full of hay behind me and we swerved on the road until I was able to correct it and pull slowly to the side of the road.
Another year, I had 1 single bale that wasn’t secured and it flew off into the road, right in the path of an on-coming 18-wheeler. If that had been a smaller vehicle someone could have been seriously injured and I don’t want that on my conscience.
Now I use a much bigger truck and trailer to do the job, and I’m maybe a little OCD about strapping everything down.
At length, I managed to tie it all down using a combination of ratchet-straps and rope, and we set out for Runamuk. Me in the truck, my sister following behind in her car with BraeTek. We decided it was too cramped in the cab for us to ride together with all of the straps and our gear, plus I liked the idea of having someone behind me to watch for any fallen bales. Once I get that truck going, I can’t see anything that’s happening behind me. And don’t ask me to turn the thing around!
Notes for Subscribers
Carrying these weekly farm-updates over from my former CSA program, I'd hoped to fashion my Substack as a sort of “literary CSA”. While I've managed to be fairly consistent in sharing about life on this Maine farm and ecologic reserve, I'm not feeling like I've truly captured the spirit of a CSA.
I thought I might start including a Seasonal Eating blurb in each update, in an effort to bring that element more into play. With a suggestion for foods that are in-season, strategies for tempting your family to try new foods, and recipes to help you on your way.
The problem with that in an electronic online format, is that my readership and I are spread so far apart that it's not very practical. What's in season for me might not be accessible or in season where you are.
And so, I am putting forth this poll to see what you might have interest in. Don't be bashful, speak up! Lemme know, yo!
Bales of Glory
With a long light at the bridge in North Anson due to construction, I had stepped out of the truck to tighten straps on the trailer-load of hay. The truck I am using is well-aged and sometimes the latch on the door doesn’t catch. Thus, when I went to pull truck and trailer into the broad parking lot between the local corner store and the ice cream shop, the door swang open even as the truck was moving. Another car was coming around the backside of the building, wanting to exit as I was entering, so the whole thing was terribly awkward. It was hard for me to step on the brake and reach the door while still keeping the truck moving in a straight line.
I did though and the car passed, and I was able to swing the truck around to face the far exit. It was the last trip and I was feeling pretty good about our weekend and the 2024 Hay Mission. I’d found a way to pay for it, and even scrabbled together enough to allow me to splurge on pizza and still put $50-worth of gas in the borrowed truck. We were all 3 exhausted and sore, but we’d had no injuries and lost no hay bales during transport. I’d call that a triumphant 2024 Hay Mission.
Thus, it didn’t bother me at first, the locals who laughed… I sent my sister and my son over for ice cream, checked the straps again even as they sniggered nearby, then I strode across to the corner store to buy myself a drink.
It wasn’t until later, when we were putting that last load away that their ignorant laughing really cheesed me off. Their reaction to me, my truck and my cargo is symbolic of society’s response to me in general.
Mostly, it’s the men.
NOTE: To any gentleman reading who might have evolved beyond this mentality, please consider yourself exempt from this broad generalization. I have definitely come across some very open-minded men who’ve met me as an equal, with respect and consideration. So I know you exist. However, your kind are uncommon in the region where I live and farm.
Women either like what I’m about and support me or they ignore me because they can’t relate. But this mentality is mostly prevalent in men, and largely the reason I’m still single.
Either they don’t understand how anyone can live a life that isn’t driven by money, or they’re feeling inadequate in the face of my awesomeness. Men don’t like to be showed up by a woman and I work harder than most.
The impression I get is that I must be crazy foolish to live this way and work so hard. Some of them might admire it, but they don’t want to be a part of it. Some of them are fairly disrespectful, though I doubt they even realize it. And a few are downright scornful.
Yet, if they can’t conceive of my existence, I can’t begin to expect them to understand how powerful it is. We’re on completely different levels. Different planes of existence even!
Those guys can laugh all they want, though. I may be driving a beat-up old truck I had to borrow, and I may have a gazillion straps holding down my cargo, but I have 53-acres of paradise and no 9-5 grind holding me back from MY dreams.
Standing there in the loft with all our bales of glory stacked high to the rafters, my son and my sister below still sending hay up to me on the conveyor, it was only reaffirmed for me that I don’t need a fancy Tundra 4x4 or whathaveyou. Money ain’t all that glitters, and all that glitters is not gold, so all those guys can just suck it!
Much love to you and yours, my friends.
Your friendly neighborhood farmer,
Sam
Thank you for following along with the story of this lady-farmer! It is truly a privilege to live this life serving my family and community, and protecting wildlife through agricultural conservation. Check back soon for more updates from the farm, and be sure to follow @RunamukAcres on Instagram or Facebook!
I can smell the sweetness of that hay! I have much admiration for you and your hard work!
Did the poll, looking forward to learning more about horticulture and - I am also very interested in your recipes for dog food. I often wonder why I make sure all the humans here eat a good diet and then give kibble and tinned meat slop to the beloved pup.