We now have lots of newly baled hay here at my Bedford, New York farm. This first cut of the season is higher in fiber content and lower in protein and fat - all my horses will love it.
Hay is a harvested plant that’s dried and cured after being cut in the field. In most cases, hay is cut during the late bud or early bloom stage to maximize its nutritional value. Over the last week, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, and our entire team worked hard to cut, toss, rake, and then bale the hay in my fields. Ideally, after the hay is cut, it's good to let it dry for a couple of days before baling in order to prevent rot. Chhiring's son, Mingmar, who also works at the farm, took drone images to capture the process.
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of two hay trailers or wagons that I have here at the farm. It is used to catch the bales once they are formed and tied. It’s covered to protect the bales from any unexpected rain and to offer shade to those who are stacking the bales as they are thrown. Fortunately it was a beautiful late spring day with temperatures in the 70s.
And here is the baler. A baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store.
Large rolls of twine are positioned and tied to each other, so they can feed into the baler and secure the hay just before it shoots out into the trailer.
Here is the motor that helps to move and propel the bales into the wagon.
Chhiring hitches the baler to my Kubota tractor. I am so glad I have all the necessary equipment here at the farm. Having the “right tool for the right job” is very important.
Here is a close look at a row of hay ready to bale. I have three separate areas for growing hay. They are all planted with a mixture of timothy, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and clovers – all great for producing good quality hay.
Chhiring does this process midday when there is the least amount of moisture. The tractor rides to one side of the windrow while the baler passes directly over it to collect the hay.
The hay is lifted by tines in the baler’s reel and then propelled into the wagon by a mechanical arm called a thrower or a kicker.
Here is a bale moving through the machine. The bales are manageable for one person to handle, about 45 to 60 pounds each.
Here’s a closer look as a baled “square” moves up to the arm. A measuring device—normally a spiked wheel that is turned by the emerging bales—measures the amount of material that is being compressed. If the hay is properly dried, the baler will work continuously down each row. Hay that is too damp tends to clog up the baler.
Chhiring goes evenly and slowly over every row of cut, tedded hay.
Mingmar maneuvers the drone, so he can capture every part of the process. Here it is easy to see what the field looks like after the hay is collected.
The hay wagon has high walls on the left, right, and back sides, and a short wall on the front side to contain the bales which are stacked neatly from front to back.
This bale in the tractor bucket accidentally fell out of the wagon and was picked up separately. Each bale is about 15 by 18 by 40 inches large. The number of flakes in the bale is determined by a setting in the baler. Many balers are set for 10 to 12 flakes per bale.
The trailer fills up pretty quickly. Each one can hold about 150-bales. Chhiring drives up and down the windrows of all the hayfields which takes a couple of hours.
Once the hay wagon is full, it is driven down the carriage road through the long boxwood allée to my stable hayloft. Here, one can see the wagon on the left. One of my allées of lindens runs perpendicular to the boxwood.
To get the bales up into the hayloft, a long motorized bale conveyor, or hay elevator, is set up. A hay elevator is an open skeletal frame, with a chain that has dull three-inch spikes every few feet to grab bales and drag them along. It works as a pulley system on a track that moves the bales up to the loft.
The bales are loaded one by one onto the elevator and then at the top each bale is released from the elevator for manual stacking. This process continues one bale at a time from the wagon to the hayloft… until the entire wagon is empty.
In general, a standard 40 lb. “square” bale of hay lasts one horse about three days, but this also depends on the individual horse, the type of hay, and the amount of access to pasture grass.
Here is an aerial view of the middle field. The fields will grow another crop and we’ll harvest the second cut come September. I am so excited to see all these bales of hay made right here at my farm. Do you bale hay where you live? Share your comments below – I would love to read them.
Here at my Cantitoe Corners Farm in Bedford, New York, the weather is warm and my hardworking outdoor grounds crew is getting all the hay cut, tended, and ready to bale.
One of my objectives at my farm is to practice self-sufficiency. When I moved here, I designated three separate areas as hayfields, so I could grow lots and lots of delicious, nutritious hay for my horses and donkeys. I planted the fields with a mixture of timothy, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and clovers - all great for producing good quality hay. The hay is also treated with agricultural lime, a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk that works to correct the acidity of the soil, eradicate any noxious weeds, and raise the overall health of the land. This year, we have a bumper crop and the fields are ready for the first cut of the season.
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of three large fields at my farm. The first step is to grow the hay. This photo is from last May when we seeded the lawns.
This seed contains Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Timothy, and orchard grass.
This year’s seed is from Hancock Farm & Seed Company, a 44-year old business that grows its own seed and ships directly from its Florida facility.
And here is my run-in field yesterday. Look at all the hay – beautiful and well-grown. This photo was taken just before the hay was cut. This time every year, we hope for at least a week of good, dry weather, so we can get the first cut of hay from the fields. Timing is everything when cutting the hay crop. The first cutting should be when grass has greened up and reached 12 to 16 inches tall.
Here is a closer look. It’s important to consider the time of day that’s best for mowing. The plants’ sugar content is highest at dusk but because of moisture, it’s not ideal to cut hay at night. The best time is to start as soon as dew is off in the morning, which will maximize drying time.
I am fortunate to have all the necessary equipment here at the farm. This is our mower-conditioner. Mower-conditioners are a staple of large-scale haymaking. It cuts, crimps, and crushes the hay after it is cut to promote faster and more even drying.
Chhiring checks the mower-conditioner before it’s used. These discs and blades are located behind the protective shield of the mower-conditioner.
Chhiring makes sure every blade is sharp and in good condition.
Next, Chhiring hooks up the mower-conditioner to our trusted Kubota M4-071 tractor. Chhiring is now in the cab of the tractor ready to cut. the process of cutting should take about a half hour.
When weather conditions are ideal, these machines allow farmers to cut wide and fast – the best formula for quality field productivity. Chhiring goes over the field slowly and evenly with the mower-conditioner.
As the mower-conditioner goes over the grass, it cuts it and then conditions it – all under the protective hood of the machine.
Here, one can see the mounded rows of cut and crimped grass.
Meanwhile, in the back field, this freshly cut hay is ready for tedding, also known as fluffing.
Chhiring is ready to go over this field with the hay tedder. A tedder spreads and fluffs the hay in a uniform swath after the mower-conditioner has made the windrows.
Here is a closer look at the tines, or moving forks, which aerate or “wuffle” the hay and speed up the drying process even more.
Chhiring is our resident hay expert. This year marks his 20th year working with me at the farm.
Here is the tedder moving up and down the field taking all the greener hay from the bottom and turning it over to dry.
Here is another view – look how the tedder picks up and fluffs the hay with its forks.
Here is some of the fluffed up hay, which will continue to dry and turn colors from green to tan over the next 24-hours. On average, it takes about three days per field, depending on the size of the field and the weather, to complete the entire process of mowing, raking, and baling hay.
Here is a view from above. Our camera operator, Brett Albright, took several photos with a drone. The mounded rows are called windrows – rows of cut hay or small grain crops. They are so beautiful and all perfectly straight.
From this vantage point, one can see how the tedder works to turn the hay around. The left side shows the tedded hay. the right side shows what Chhiring has left to ted. (Photo by Brett Albright)
After the hay is tedded, it is then raked. Raking the hay is the fastest part of the process. And then the hay will dry again until it is ready to bale. Stay tuned for more photos of that process in another blog. (Photo by Brett Albright)
If you enjoy late-night comedy and are interested in attending a LIVE stand-up show, be sure to catch Chelsea Handler's current tour, "Vaccinated and Horny" - she's performing tonight in Springfield, Massachusetts and tomorrow night in Windsor, Canada just across the Detroit River and the city of Detroit, Michigan. More dates are available on her website at ChelseaHandler.com.
Chelsea is a comedian, television host, author, and one of the most celebrated voices in comedy. I attended her show last night with a group of colleagues at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. We also dined at a wonderful restaurant called Rosina's in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut.
Here are some photos from our fun evening. And be sure to check out my podcast with Chelsea Handler! "The Martha Stewart Podcast" launches June 22nd on iHeart Radio. Find it on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rosina’s is located in the Byram business district of Greenwich. The restaurant opened in August of last year and focuses on serving classic refined Italian food.
Inside is a cozy bar. Some of its popular cocktails include Rosina’s Garibaldi which is made with Campari and fluffy orange juice. Rosina’s beverage director, Juan Meyer, is tending the bar.
This is the main dining room – it features more than 60 seats. Owners Jared Falco and Coby Blount named the establishment after Coby’s wife’s grandmother, who lived in the area for more than 75 years and loved to cook.
Here I am with Chef Jared and Judy Morris, my longtime special projects producer.
We started with warm focaccia loaves. We had to order several because it was so good.
The focaccia is served with whipped ricotta cheese, olive oil, and herbs.
This is chili honey butter – this was so good on the bread also.
Chef Jarod also served some garlic bread made with pecorino and parmesan cheeses and garlic butter.
The salad was so fresh. This is arugula with candied hazelnuts, pecorino cheese, and a lemon vinaigrette. We all devoured this salad.
Another delicious appetizer – the meatballs. Beef, veal, pork, marinara, and topped with parmesan cheese.
We ordered ravioli al’uovo or raviolo with an egg yolk. This one was served with ricotta and a dusting of fresh black truffle.
And, this is octopus & potato served with marinara, pimenton, and lemon aioli.
For our entrées, we decided to order one of each pasta and share on small plates. This is bucatini cacio e pepe. I love bucatini pasta. Bucatini, also known as perciatelli, is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center of each strand.
This is cavatelli with sweet sausage, broccolini, bianco sardo, and chilis.
Another flavorful dish was the pappardelle bolognese with parmesan and pecorino cheeses.
And this is called ink malloreddus with shrimp, Calabrian chili, and breadcrumbs. Malloreddus is a type of pasta typical of Sardinian cuisine. It comes in the shape of thin ribbed shells, about two centimeters long, and made of semolina flour and water.
We also shared a simple rigatoni with garlic and olive oil.
And for dessert, we had affogato or more traditionally known as “affogato al caffe” – an Italian coffee-based dessert made with a scoop of plain milk-flavored or vanilla gelato or ice cream topped or “drowned” with a shot of hot espresso. At Rosina’s affogatos are also sprinkled with nuts.
Coby stopped for a quick photo as we were leaving. It was a great meal. I always love supporting my local community and the surrounding towns. I think it is so important that everyone does this wherever they live! I will definitely be back.
Then we headed to The Capitol Theater just across the state line and the Byram River in Port Chester. The Capitol Theatre was designed by noted architect, Thomas Lamb, and opened in 1926 as a playhouse.
We arrived just in time – seats were filling quickly.
The theater has a state-of-the-art lighting system that lights up the walls in bright colors before the show begins.
Here’s another shot before the lights dimmed and the announcer asked all guests to refrain from using cameras.
And here I am with Chelsea Handler and her boyfriend, Jo Koy, after the show. What a fun and very funny performance. Among the topics Chelsea shared with the audience – being single and childless, her dogs, and how she met Jo. It was personal and brought lots of laughs. Have a great rest of your tour, Chelsea. It was great to see you again. And please be sure to look at her website for coming dates at ChelseaHandler.com – just click on the highlighted link.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
