how to move 32 tons of hay by hand

OK, so that might be a slight exaggeration - we only moved 16 tons of hay - 32,520 pounds give or take, 542 60# bales.

But we moved them all twice.  Once off the field stacked into the trailer, then off the trailer stacked into the haymow.

So I count both times.

And so do my arms.  And legs.  And back.  And knees.

And that was only roughly 1/3 of the hay that came off our roughly 17 acres of pasture with this first crop.  The other 2/3 were taken in large rounds and small bales in exchange for getting the cutting/raking/baling for free. 

But I can't say we did it all ourselves. we'd still be stacking bales if it weren't for the incredibly generous offer of friends who showed up on the 4th of July and spent their entire holiday helping us out.

And then, if that weren't generous enough, two days later came back to help us finish.

I nearly cried when I saw them pulling down the driveway hauling a load of our hay off the field before we were even done with morning chores.

{cried in a good way, not in a "i-don't-want-to-see-another-bale-of-hay" way.}

{or maybe it was both.} 

So finally, after 4 or so days of it, the task was finished, the haymow stacked to overflowing, and we could rest our weary bones.

Until a day later, when I had to haul 288 pounds of chickens to the processor.

Cheers -