I have 2 hectares of wild flower meadows that generates 15-16 round bales each year. However, it undulates in both planes, must be over 20° of angle in several places and you can’t get a large modern tractor through the woodland path that leads to the field.
So I’m entirely happy with my neighbour cutting/bailing/collecting it for free with his collection of ancient tractors and equipment.
In NZ hay was baled, but silage “insulidge” was just in a heap like a haystack. It’s nurtured much like a big compost heap, needs water/rain to mature which IIRC it then does in a few very short winter months under plastic.
ISTR in some years saw some special powders being added presumably to help fermenting. The whole thing gets wet and has a distinctive smell. When ready in winter it can be cut into squares with a spade for feeding. I am not sure why it wasn’t such a good idea to just give cows hay, something to do with their digestion. You have to feed it once it becomes silage, it’s not kept till next year (whereas hay if it’s high quality will keep another year although ideally fed alongside “new” hay). While stinky, ok let’s admit very tangily stinky, silage is really healthy stuff for cows.
Hmm I agree there are defo some cheeses I wouldn’t necessarily want the taste of silage!!
There are times when I am really glad we do not have the digestive system of cows.
Well, about 100% of the time really.
How stupid am I, and how understanding were my French neighbours, given that when we first bought our house, some 20 year ago, I burnt off most of the brash from the overgrown trees, in an impressive bonfire. At the titime I had no idea it was frowned upon or that there was a perfectly good Dechetterie to help out ignorant Brits like me. I have apologised since though
Thanks one and all i will pop in the Marie as it’s only two doors away and practice my French which is not great i lived in Spain for a few years and struggle to stop speaking it in France so it all gets a bit confusing especially for the poor person I’m trying to communicate with 
You have my sympathy Clive and I know just what you are going through. I lived and worked in Brazil in the 70s and was bilingual by the time I left. Even now there are times when the first word that pops into my head is Portuguese and there are times when after I’ve said a word I’ve not been sure which language I’ve been speaking! I envy those who seem to be able to speak multiple languages and compartmentalise them.
Just to reassure though, it does get better. Or maybe one just stops worrying about it. 
I think that’s the answer… It’s best when one relaxes and just goes with the flow… 
OH and I recently spent a weekend on Île d’Oléron, the only non-French in a group of 21.
If I felt confident with the topic of conversation… . I prattled away at great speed… regardless of the errors I know I make (despite all my best efforts).
If I knew little about the topic, I held back, answering questions and speaking slowly and carefully, seeking the correct words/phrases.
Towards the end of our trip, one delightful lady confided in me that she could understand my speedy (if incorrect) French, but she had trouble with my slow/careful efforts … 
My accent is something I’m stuck with… regardless
That makes sense @Stella - our French teacher says that my French is much better than my partner’s but there is no doubt at all that I usually get the blankface of incomprehension in general conversation whereas he is usually understood. The difference is, I think, that he speaks quickly and I speak slowly…
By the way - did the trip go well? I wasn’t sure when it was happening…
I think that I live in a town full of pyromaniacs - all my neighbours have bonfires irrespective of season.
Headline in local paper today about a number of barns that have caught fire because of poorly supervised hay bales…big bonfires.
Sadly in one the fire the cows were trapped and died.
Wonderful time.
Homemade grantham gingerbreads and mincemeat slices went down a treat at snacktime … very exotic they reckoned … 
Ooh yes! I’ll bet they did 
Is it speed, or intonation? So rather than each word being the plunk of a dripping tap, aim for a slow flurry like a gently babbling brook? Maybe different in your area, but here the accent is extended vowels and a sing-song cadence.
Could be both in my case. My partner is a good mimic so he probably gets the rhythm right…