Rain on Hay

    I cut hay every summer.  I don’t have a tractor or bailer, so I use my lawn trimmer to cut my pasture, and paddock.  

    Normally farmers cut hay to feed their livestock during the winter and that is what I also used to do when I had a herd of Angora goats.  Because hay is used for feed, it is important that after it is cut, it can dry for a few days in the sun to prevent mold from growing on it.  I always augmented the bales of hay I bought, with the loose hay I cut from my pasture.  I no longer have the goats, but I still cut the hay because the cut fields reduce fire hazard, and I use the hay as mulch in the garden for my potatoes and in the greenhouse for my tomato plants.

    Because I use it as mulch, it really doesn’t matter if it gets wet and moldy.  In fact, it is probably better because the mold damages the seeds in the hay.  (I certainly don’t need any more weeds coming up in my garden.)

    It rained overnight and this morning when I was walking Kona, she wandered through the wet hay laying on the ground and I noticed the strings of rain drops beaded up on the leaves like jewels.  Here is a photo of the wet hay. 

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