Oh the joys of living a frugal life! Sometimes when you end up doing things you think, ” would people think I’m crazy?” But when you get the label of frugal this stuff is NORMAL! You can bale your own hay without farm equipment. If you live out in the country you may even get it FREE!
As you may or may not know we got eight week old goats in June. We realized we are going to need a hay supplier. Living in the country it isn’t hard to find farmers selling hay.
It is important to us to try our best to get the best deal.
It’s convenient to drop by the local feed store and pay as much as $7 for a better bale of hay. But, here’s the thing with frugal people, if we can get it for less why wouldn’t we?
For my cheap lovers, if we can get it for FREE, well we will always choose that option.
Living out in the country surrounded by farm fields I realized what farmers leave in the field is exactly how much we need for our animals. After the hay was nice and dry, we scooped up the leftovers and brought it back to the homestead.
We knew we could bale our own hay by hand without any farm equipment. If you have any field of grass you can do the same.
They are the cutest little bales and for us with a few more cuttings throughout the season we may have enough to get us through winter.
You can store loose hay in a dry place and it won’t lose nutritional value, but it’s messy and takes up alot of space. I’d rather fill the loft in the barn with stacked little bales.
Plus the small bale of hay size is easy for me to carry down the loft stairs in the barn.
We asked our neighbor if they minded us taking the field they cut and using it for our animals and they didn’t. It’s not as good of quality as the farm fields but it keeps the pigs and goats occupied in winter. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your neighbors or farmers and be resourceful.
Those leftovers in the fields aren’t going anywhere.
It’s a total win for us frugal farm girls right?! We store the little hay bales up in the loft in our new debt free barn!
Watch the video below of my daughter showing you how to bale your own hay or read the steps below.
What you need:
Whatever size box you use will be the size of your hay bales.
Grab your twine and lay the twine down and up the sides of the box.
Two across and one down the middle.
Cut the twine and tie it to your jugs or whatever you are using for weight.
Fill it up with your hay.
Push it down really good. This is our daughter’s favorite part as she jumps on top of it.
Untie the twine from the jugs.
It’s easier to have two people to help keep the twine tight when you tie it. Tie it up real tight over your hay.
Pull it out of the box by the twine and you have a bale of hay!
Check out how we made the trailer in the video from old car parts here.
And there you have the cutest little bales of hay!
Read or Pin before you go:
- The Hard Truth About Raising Chickens (No One Talks About This Part)
- How to Plan a Stress-Free, Budget-Friendly Christmas on the Farm (With a Planner You’ll Actually Use)
- DIY Dried Orange & Pinecone Jar for Cozy Holiday Decor
- DIY Cylinder Vase Holiday Centerpiece Tutorial
- 70 Extreme Money Saving Tips for Frugal Living
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