Soggy Hay Bales and the Joys of Homesteading with Toddlers

Homesteading is – bundling up 4 children, including the 8 week old, to go out in 30 degree weather at dusk because the cows need hay and James needs my help to move the round bale. We don’t have a hay barn so the bales, that were already large to begin with, are even heavier from being waterlogged. We set the car seat on the ground nearby and Teddy sits in it, all bundled up in his fleecy suit. Yael wants to “watch him”, while Marianna and Ezekiel try to help push the hay bale.

James pushes, barely budging it, rocking it back and forth a little to get the momentum going. Once he moves it a bit, I push the steel tamper bar as far as I can under the bale, and pry up on it while he pushes. Leverage. Each time the bale comes off the ground a little bit more, I push the tamper bar further under it. It works eventually. The flattened bottom works loose from the ground and the bale is now rolled about halfway over. We take a break, breathing heavily.

Then James goes to lower the fence. It’s electric fence netting on lightweight poles, which makes it easy to move. Whenever we have to give the cows hay, he lowers several sections of fence to the ground so that he has room to push the bale over it. I have a stick, and stand guard to make sure the cows and goats don’t walk out of the fence. It can be a challenge sometimes because they’re excited about new hay!

James gives his flashlight to Yael and asks her to shine it his direction while he begins pushing the bale to the fence. Once started, he keeps it going pretty well. Over the downed fence, into the field, until he runs into the leftovers of the last bale and comes to a stop.

James starts to put the fence back in place. Yael wants to go back to rocking Teddy in the car seat, so she gives the flashlight to Ezekiel and Marianna and tells them to hold it for Daddy. They try to shine it in their faces instead, so I rescue the flashlight (and their eyeballs!)

The cows are already starting in on the hay, and we shoo them away so that James can cut the strings off the bale and put the hay ring around it. Our fingers are getting cold and we’re all eager to get back into the warm house.

The stars are out, and smoke is coming from our chimney as we make our way back up the driveway … James carrying the tamper bar, me carrying the car seat, and 3 toddlers clomping along on the gravel.

Maybe someday, Lord willing, we’ll have a big farm with lots of cows, a tractor, and a hay barn. Our sons will be strong young men who tend to the animals and do the heavy lifting. And as much as I look forward to growth and expansion, I suspect there will be a part of me that will miss the days when we all traipsed down the driveway in the freezing temps to push a rain-soaked hay bale over the temporary fence to feed our 2 cows and 5 goats.