Sweet Sustenance

In my last life I never worried much about the weather.  It didn't matter to me if we had a flood or drought.  I bought all of my food from a grocery store and the only livestock I was feeding were a few dogs and cats.  All of your views suddenly change though when your food and the food of your livestock depends on the weather.

Last summer I became obsessed with the weather.  We suffered from a drought for most of the summer and it really affected the corn and hay production.  In fact, there was hardly a second hay cutting period due to the lack of rain.  As I watched my friends in the northern part of the state pay $10.00 a bale for decent mixed hay, I started to get nervous.

I started calling other horse owners and farmers trying to secure hay to get me through the rest of the fall and winter.  I could only compare this game of cat and mouse to the days of Beanie Babies.  Remember those?  We all thought we would strike it rich by collecting those things and we would stand in line for hours to get the newest poly-fiber filled stuffed toy.  I was so stupid then,  I couldn't use those stuffed animals for anything, but hay?  That is needed to sustain the horses and rabbits for life!  Luckily, I was able to secure 90 bales of nice quality grass hay for $3.75 a bale.  Quite the deal for peace of mind and sustenance!

This has been enough to feed the rabbits and horses since late summer, and I am hoping it will be enough to feed them until the first cutting this year.  Tonight we pulled down and stacked the last of the hay for 2012.  36 bales of the sweetest smelling hay I have ever laid hands on.  Peace of mind never smelled so good!