Friday, July 15, 2011

Haying 1991


When you do hay, the bales must go into the barn. This crew, all in red shirts, is loading bales onto the elevator from the wagon. Peter (center) and Liesl (right) hand bales from the wagon to Tim Frazho (left) who places them on the conveyor where they travel to the mow. There probably are two more workers -- maybe Ed and Will -- in the mow, stacking the bales.

Our kids showed sheep for 4H and participated in the Junior Livestock program in Huron County, so we raised lambs for a number of years. Sheep eat hay so we also raised hay back then. Henry Trost and Don Wheeler would do the baling. Then Ed organized a crew of kids -- ours and others -- to pick up bales and put the hay in the barn.

Haying is hard work. Like so much in farming, you have to do it when it has to be done. Come to think of it, lots of life is like that -- stuff has to be done at a certain time. One good thing about this kind of farm work is that teamwork made it go easier.

Thinking about the excellent organizing skills that all three of our children have made me realize that some of those traits come from the small amount of farming that we did. Efficient organizing -- the hallmark of good leadership -- is part and parcel of good farming.

Copyright 2011
Wanda Hayes Eichler




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