Haying season

[fitzw]

The last of the first cutting of hay was brought in this week, and all but two mows in the barn are full (there are 10 mows, which can easily hold about 500 bales each). There is a break before second cutting for rowan, when we will take advantage of the time to make repairs to the equipment, the fences, tend the gardens, etc. During that break, helwen and I will go to Pennsic for two weeks.

Then we come back, and the work continues.

Comments

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the haying! From my very non-farmer-y perspective, it looks as if it's been a good season for hay thus far, at least in the fields near me. What does it mean, though, 'second cutting for rowan'? I didn't get that part. Cheers, Athelthryth

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

First of all, it turns out that I mistyped the word: It should be "rowen", not "rowan".

There can be more than one harvest of hay from a field. The first cutting is usually referred to simply as "hay". The second and subsequent cuttings are often referred to as "rowen" -- it's finer, lighter, shorter, but richer in nutrients.

Another word for this is "aftermath" -- if you look up "aftermath" in a Merriam-Webster, the first definition says 'a second-growth crop — called also rowen' I don't think many farmers in this area use "aftermath", though.

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clarifying that! I knew that subsequent hayings had different qualities in terms of nutritional value, but had never seen the technical terms before.