Just in time hay delivery

We underestimated how much hay we had to make it through the holiday season, and got this delivery with only one days worth of hay to spare. Hay is the largest input we have on the homestead and we make sure we get the most out of it not only feeding animals but simultaneously using the waste hay as mulch. This year since we have our Katahdin sheep and East Friesian dairy sheep in two groups there is more wasted hay. The hope is that even though we are wasting more hay that the extra attention to the dairy sheep will yield us more milk overall next season.

When I say wasted hay, what I mean is that the sheep aren't eating all the good hay and only leaving the stems. Even though some good hay might go uneaten, we place the hay in an area in which hay mulch would be beneficial. In the example of the dairy sheep, their paddock is very close to the food forest, so we will only have to move the manure packed hay a short distance to use when growing our potatoes this spring.

#permaculture #permies #homesteading #selfsovereignty #meshtadel #grownostr #sheep #hay #foodforest #forestgarden