Raking Hay with Draft Horses at Sterling College

Today, we completed putting in about 14 acres of square-baled hay. Using a mix of power, horses for tedding and raking, two tractors for mowing and baling, we put up about 650 bales of good quality hay and stored another 3000 pounds of loose hay in the barn. Baling-twine blisters and sunburned necks, jugs of water and the smell of the July sun are the trappings of the day. The weather has turned away from cool and rainy to hot and humid, thundershowers returning to the forecast--we are all breathing a bit easier with first cut in the barn.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Agriculture
• Sterling
• College
• Draft
• Horses
• Farming
• Sustainable
• Haying
• Hay

[Nilyentaraka]

@VTwanderer:

You certainly could. ^_^

[VTwanderer]

@Nilyentaraka I'm getting into farming by myself, I've cleared a 20x25' Plot by hand, My soil is all Rocky Glaciel Till. I ended up with a 20' wall of Stones and boulders. If i had me a draft horse i could Clear all my land and have a huge farm.

[Nilyentaraka]

@VTwanderer:

I think you'd be amazed at how much it costs to run a school like Sterling college. Perhaps that is why the tuition is so steep. You should know that you can definitely learn these skills by participating in apprenticeship programs available from sustainable/homesteading farmers all over the country.

[Brant1A]

actually, farming with horses is more practical up to about 150 acres. The cost/benefit calculations say so anyway. Lot's to consider though.

[haymanfarm]

That's exactly why farms were smaller in the age of horse farming. The reason the Amish refrain from using tractors is to keep their farms small and their communities intact. It works!

[yamajammer76]

This is really cool to see however I don't think farming with horses is very practical if you have a few hundred acres of land to hay. On a small scale it would be fine and probably even fun. Anyhow thanks for posting this.

[TheBrassHole]

It's nice to see horses that actually have something to do.  5 stars

[Georgia4God]

My dream college, too! Do they work on a semester basis like most other colleges? I'll have to look them up on the web. :) Looks fun!

[Nilyentaraka]

Sterling College is a work college in Craftsbury Commons, VT. They're all about teaching folks about sustainable agriculture, draft powered farming, outdoor leadership, nature conservation, etc. IOW, my dream college... @_@

[megamouse78]

ok?