Rant! Relying on other people........pah! Grrrrrrrr, snarl.

[Enfys]

I haven't ranted before, and I don't expect replies but I need to VENT before I blow a gasket. Can't take it out on hubby or daughter as that's not fair.

A month ago I arranged with a local farmer to cut my hay (being new I thought, "keep it local" etc This was a business arrangement, not a favour) Guess what? He has just pulled up to say "Oh sorry, my machine's broken, I've been waiting for parts for two weeks!" I had called a couple of times and left messages of the "Can you let me know if you can still cut the fields please, if not I can arrange a Conractor" blah, blah, blah.

Why the **** couldn't he have told me this a fortnight ago!? My grass is now 3' tall and gone to seed and back, totally crap now. I am sooooooo angry and feel as if I'm being taken for a total idiot. Oh, and then he said that my grass will have gone to seed and did I know that it wouldn't be so good now? OF COURSE I FLAMING KNOW!

I don't get my money from the UK through until the end of the month because of stupid Solicitors holding everything up (again) so can't go out and buy my own tractor etc, etc, yet.

Sorry folks.

Moral to this is, if you want something done, do it yourself and don't rely on other people.

 

[Tia]

The hay will be fine (so long as it isn't big and stalky) - you just won't be able to sell it as seed-hay; instead it will be meadow hay which is what a lot of people buy anyway, so don't worry too much.

Our hay is between 4 and 5 ft tall with very thin stalks and plenty of leaf; some fields have been taken and some are waiting for alfalfa to be at optimum cutting time. What type of grasses do you have? This can make a big difference in the timing of the cuts.

The only grass species of ours which is just turning is the Bermuda Grass, but only at the edge of our fields. None of the other grasses have gone to seed yet and the fields will be down before they do.

 

[Enfys]

"Conractor!" what the heck is a Conractor? See, too het up to proof read

Oh, and to really start my day off well, I've been bitten on the face by a deer fly, I'm allergic to them so now look as if I've got cotton wool stuffed in my cheek! Delightful and.............I can't scratch, mustn't scratch, want to scratch

 

[Enfys]

The hay is only for us, about 20% alfalfa and lots of leafy stuff. The plan was to reseed the land bit by bit but we can't do it all in one go. It hasn't been managed well, and there's a lot of goldenrod and milkweed in parts. One section was burned off when a neighbours fire got out of control back a few months back, it's grown back with a vengeance! I drove through on the ATV yesterday and couldn't see over the top of the grass, so that lot must be about 5' high!

We took over a barn load of hay cut from the same fields and although I was horrified at it, compared to the stuff I was getting in the UK, the horses loved it, couldn't eat it fast enough.

Thanks Tia. It's just so frustrating, I know people are busy, and I don't expect them to drop everything, but one little phone call, or just drop by to let me know. I haven't made too much of a fuss as I don't want to rile people locally.

9.50am and both hubby and child are still snoring in their pits!

 

[Tia]

Okay....another positive point for you to remember. If your hay has gone to seed....guess what you are going to save money on??

You will likely only need half the seed you have expected to buy. Out of bad there generally comes good.

Milk weed is a real pain isn't it! We don't have any of that stuff in our hay fields, but there are a couple sprouting up in 2 of our pasture fields - I'm about to cut them down before they flower. Milk weed is also toxic so if you cut it, be careful not to let the horses around it - the milk can make them photosensitive. Goldenrod is very pretty, not great around horses, but not too bad either. In hay is has a very strong aroma and horses won't eat it. It spreads like wildfire so that is one thing you do want to try and eradicate.

 

[ISHmad]

Could it be baled as haylage instead, if it has gone too far for hay?