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# A guide to hay making by hand
- URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/a-guide-to-hay-making-by-hand/
- Published: 2015-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-26T16:01:41.000Z
- Author: Nigel Akehurst
- Tags: #field-notes, Field Notes

Inspired by my visit to **Monkton Wlyd Court** (an education centre for sustainable living) last summer (whilst on my Indie Farmer Road Trip) I’ve put together a short guide to hay making by hand featuring **Simon Fairlie**, small-scale farmer and co-editor of **The Land Magazine**..

**1\. Sharpening your Scythe** – The majority of farmers these days use a tractor and a mower for cutting grass but in the absence of modern machinery the most important tool you’ll need is a good sharp Scythe…

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08846.jpg)

**2\. Scything or Mowing –** recently popularised in the BBC Series Poldark, scything is a real art as demonstrated in my video of Simon mowing below and according to him it can take at least 5 years (or seasons) to turn a lad into a professional mower. So you better get practicing!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08848.jpg)

Here’s a short video I took of Simon in ‘full swing’…

**3\. Turning your hay** – to aid the drying process it’s important to turn the grass over the course of the ‘haying’ period..

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08840.jpg)

**4\. Moving your hay** – Once your grass has turned to hay (which normally takes a day or two fine weather) you’ll need to move it to the barn. To do this fork some hay onto a large blanket, which can then be wrapped it into a bundle and transport by foot to the farm yard. Depending on the size of the field you may need to make several ‘trips’ to clear the field.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08844.jpg)

**5\. Spreading your hay** – sometimes if the hay isn’t quite ready but the weather looks set to change it’s a good idea to get your hay as close to the barn as possible and then spread it in the farmyard..

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08836.jpg)

**6\. Stacking your hay in the barn** – the final and most important stage of hay making is to get your hay safely in the barn before it rains.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08861.jpg)

And whilst I haven’t convinced my dad to sell our tractors and hay making equipment quite yet here’s a ‘man versus machine’ YouTube video with a surprising outcome..

### **More information**

To find out more about Austrian scythes visit [http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/ ](http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com)run by Simon Fairlie

Visit the annual Scything fair (normally held in June) [http://www.greenfair.org.uk/](http://www.greenfair.org.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com)