Baling

<p>Rob Vaughn and Michael Heller just finished a grueling two weeks of baling. Now the farm has plenty of straw (about 1800 bales) which we can use (among other things) for mulching some of our vegetables crops. The next rounds of baling will be for hay, which the cows eat during the colder months. By the end of the&nbsp; growing season Clagett Farm may end up with about 3,000 bales of hay, primarily orchard grass and clover. That's a lot of work. </p> <p>Baling is one the most physically demanding jobs on the farm. And to top it off, this round of baling was done at the moment summer decided to enter into full swing with all its heat and humidity. Rob and Michael worked exhaustively long hours. They got help from a few others, as they usually do every year, but the bulk of the work was done by them.&nbsp; <br /><a href="http://kolya.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/baling_cfn.jpg"><img width="350" height="259" border="0" src="http://weblog.clagettfarm.org/images/baling_cfn.jpg" title="Baling_cfn" alt="Baling_cfn" /></a> <br />On a moving wagon, Beth McGee grabs a bale of rye (used for straw) while Kolya waits for his turn. The tractor pulls both the baler and the wagon. The wagon is full once the bales are stacked seven high. Those last stacks are particularly challenging. Dr. Beth McGee, by the way, is the Maryland Senior Scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. (<em>Photo by Michael Heller</em>.)</p>