Other than opening the windows and doors?
The most natural air freshener in the world is 179 bales of freshly cut hay stacked into the barn. Hay has this newly mowed grass crossed with bright notes of sunshine kind of scent. If we could bottle this scent it would be a best seller. Of course the scent of a wild sea is my other favourite and in a month I am taking you to a beach in NZ to get a hit of that too!
These bales are more grass than alfalfa but that’s ok. We grow our cows for a long time so they don’t need to be fattened too quickly. Alfalfa is very high protein. And the chickens and pigs and cows all gobble it up no matter what the hay is comprised of. They all love fresh hay too.
But the conditions are dry and dusty, and driving the tractor that is towing the baler that is towing the hay rack in a smallish field with lots of turning (and combine that with being clinically allergic to hay) has resulted in a true bout of hay-fever for me.
I work in the hay totally covered because if the hay touches me I come up in welts. Sigh.
I have told John that I will rake the next lot of hay myself. The hay needs to be raked for drying and easy baling. There is a particular method and pattern to raking. So I am going to do it myself. Driving that rig all over the field following the mad kings patternless raking about did my head in.
179 bales is a goodly number. And this is lovely hay. He did well to get that all cut and baled. And in the barn (today).
Luckily John has two sons and a strong daughter living in the area now so I no longer need to throw the bales up into the hay barn. I have passed that particular back breaking baton. Plus (you know) – allergic!
The Lone Duck
I tool Quacker off her nest and threw all the rotten eggs away. But then she stood exactly where her nest had been for the next hour looking SO SAD and SO LOST. That I collected five perfect green and aqua CHICKEN eggs, made her a new nest in her old container and laid it back on the floor in her nasty corner. She dived for the eggs and immediately settled back on them.
I know, I know I said no more wild hatching of chicks but I just had to. That duck was so lost without her flock or her eggs. She has food and water close by because she has already been sitting for a couple of weeks. I hope this helps her transition to living with chickens.
Big Jude
Here is the vid of Jude drinking his water from the hose on my instagram feed this morning – check out the sound effects! Let me know if this plays. I am trying something (as usual).
Weather
There is always a particular time of year when my children and I experience the same temperatures. Have a look at this!
Central Illinois, USA
Wellington, NZ
The overnights are exactly the same!
Good morning!
It is Saturday in this hemisphere, though honestly out here on the farm it is any-day-at-all day. There are no weekends per se – but after the last few years it feels like a Saturday every day.
Have a lovely day!
I am going to start the waters, all the gardens need watering.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
19 responses to “The most natural air freshener ever”
Poor duck!
I love Jude’s grunts while he drinks.
He is the happiest pig!
He’s come home!
Yay for no more bale tossing! I remember so many years of stories about gathering in hay and how the wet weather played such a part. It seems as if this year was uneventful in its ease.
You are very kind to the remaining duck Miss C 🙂 The video played just fine after I remembered to unmute the sound 😉
Isn’t that video funny! Old Jude – I am off out right now to fill up their wallow again!
My most favourite smell on earth is the sea. I used to live in a bayside suburb of Melbourne, and getting off the train after work, I’d inhale a deep breath and draw in the essence of the sea. Immediately the hellish day would drop away and I was calm. Even now, when life is infinitely less hellish, if I’m feeling frazzled I head for a quiet bit of beach to breathe in the peace and let the sea air wash away the frazzle.
My mother used to say that it was because the shore felt like the edge of the world – just big open sea and air.
Yes, exactly! The thousand-mile wind…
Fresh-cut hay is an amazing smell and it reminds me of home. I live by the Mediterranean now and love that smell as well. Fresh-baked bread is another good one. My grandmother always smelled of fresh baking.
Oh yes – freshly baked bread! I LOVE that smell!
Love the aroma!
The barn immediately loses its old winter fug when we start putting in the new hay!
What a wonderful post! A forlorn duck is happy now ,the pig is always happy and YES! the smell of freshly cut hay has a wonderful aroma! Have a great weekend!
Thank you Kathe! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend too!!
No more bale tossing for you, hurrah. That lucky duck, good luck with the chicken integration scheme. Great sound on Jude instagram.Hope the allergy is now under control.
Yes! My hayfever is about gone. I think a lot of it was the dust – nasty!
Freshly mown grass is my favourite. It pulls me straight back into my childhood. Love to Jude.
Just thinking of smells is so evocative of place. Hay reminds me of being a kid playing in the hayshed of the neighbouring farm.
We’re a little chillier, our overnight are 5 degrees maximum now as autumn becomes winter. Tg we have plenty of firewood.
The best smell is freshly mowed hay! YOU are so right!