• Wednesday-What'sUP August 24 - 05:49 pm

Not as common a sight in the Keweenaw as it used to be a number of years ago, but there are still folks out there making hay! It's one of the smells that brings summer to mind and takes me back to the days that we farmed, baling hay for the cattle. My favorite job was raking the mowed, drying grasses into those windrows like pictured in the first photo. It's kind of a mindless job, that gives you time to think an array of thoughts, while just making sure the rake doesn't get all clogged up with hay and keeps turning it over smoothly. These shots were taken on our farm, by my hubby, Jim Drew. Our neighbor, Lester is baling the hay for his horses, while helping us to keep our fields from getting overgrown. Time is running short to fill the barn to the rafters!

Mornin' Looks like a busy project to me.

Reminds me of those crop circles discovered in Pelkie, which Pasty Cam revisited recently.

Down here where we are, people are already having to feed hay to cattle due the prolonged drought. Many will have to buy hay for the winter to get thru. The most common smell from hay here is that of it burning in the field!

The round bales are being reconsidered for use here in Wisconsin. After many years of use, it's been discovered cattle haven't been getting a square meal. I just HAD to get that in. :-)

THIS LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE OUR HAY FIELD IN NEW ALLOUEZ THAT MY DAD USED TO CUT BY HAND; 3 TONS OF HAY, IN 2 EARLY MORNINGS ,WHILE THE DEW WAS ON THE FIELD. I USED TO HAVE TO HELP RAKE &
" PANK" DOWN IN THE BARN.THIS IS THE SWEETEST AROMA ON THE FARM.THANKS FOR THE PIC.

I can smell that fresh sweet smell of hay being cut all the way from your farm Mary, all the way down here.
Brings back memories as a teenager,of working in the field and loading the bales of hay into the back of the pickup truck. The most important rule, was that you had to remember to kick the bale of hay before picking it up and tossing it in the back of the pickup...had to completely flip the bale over completely over once, to insure that no kritters had burrowed into the bale of hay, since it had been bailed.

looks like Lester Dukart on the haybine

This sure brings back memories of hay cutting on Chechak's farm just past Dollar Bay. My Dad cut his hay the old fahioned way with a scythe. After he cut it and let it dry then we would go down there and he would load it onto a trailer that he pulled behind our our old car or truck. Can't remember which it was.I got to sit on the top of the pile and ride home.What fun! Once home he would fork it into the barn. I guess I was a Daddy's girl as he let me help him do a lot of things

I worked on a farm in Paavola when I was a kid. Mowing, raking and using a hay loader pulled behind the hay rack. This was before baling got to be the thing. I had two young helpers, Denny and Donny, (Louie White's nephews), I needed a tractor driver when I was spreading the hay on the rack. We had to pank the hay down on the rack and in the barn.

Fran in GA:
Living on my great grandparents farm, Chechaks' farm was no longer in existance in the late 50's, early 60's. Only our farm and Mattie Mattson's farm was there but as kids, my brother and sister's use to explore that area and climb that huge cement trestle and wonder about the Chechaks and whatever happened to them. All we were ever told was they didn't own the farm land and the house burnt down. Do you know whatever happened to them?

That's My Dad! Lester Dukart! He is working hard like always! And it won't be long before he starts cutting wood!