Haystack skillz

July 13, 2021 6:31 PM

The Art of the Romanian Haystack
posted by bq (15 comments total)

With a properly constructed stack, you don't go for a roll in the hay, you go for a roll under the hay...
posted by clawsoon at 6:39 PM on July 13, 2021 [3 favorites]

nice stacks
posted by zsh2v1 at 6:45 PM on July 13, 2021

I like that the woodpiles in this photo are clearly of similar construction.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:51 PM on July 13, 2021 [5 favorites]

For some odd reason, I want to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody while looking at Romanian haystacks.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:15 PM on July 13, 2021

In this video, the haystack is NOT constructed on an elevated platform for airflow beneath. Maybe the hay is drier?
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 7:18 PM on July 13, 2021

(In this example from Nova Scotia, a soggier climate, there is VERY MUCH a platform beneath the whole thing. In an English example I cannot now find, there was actually a permanent stone platform, sorta mushroom-shaped)
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 7:21 PM on July 13, 2021

Despite the talk of love forks at the end, this whole page is strikingly wholesome.
posted by now i'm piste at 7:24 PM on July 13, 2021 [4 favorites]

ivan ivanych samovar, you're perhaps thinking of a "hay barrack" supported by staddle stones? e.g.
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:31 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is lovely.

Also, very MIDSOMMER vibes here...
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:56 PM on July 13, 2021

I was struck by the same thing, WHAD,K -- the wood piles are so similar. I have stacked a lot of firewood in my lifetime, but never like that! I wouldn't think there is quite the same structure underneath, but the overall shape is the same.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2021

I was surprised to read that they typically still use hand scythes. I know they are quite efficient in the hands of an expert, but most of those pictures had a lot of haystacks, not just one small field's worth. I'm surprised they don't have some kind of small tractor, even if communal.
posted by tavella at 9:43 AM on July 14, 2021

I would like to read a story where Romanian haystacks come alive and tromp through the countryside because those photos make it look like they're just hibernating.
posted by storybored at 12:06 PM on July 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

I vaguely remembered dancing haystacks in this strange East German attempt at a feelgood teen musical, but it turns out they were wheat sheaves. (Link is mercifully timecoded to that bit)
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:42 PM on July 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

Back in 1997 I visited Romania, and I saw haystacks like these. And you know what?

I found a needle in one of ‘em. True story.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:55 AM on July 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Googly eyes needed
posted by scruss at 8:37 AM on July 15, 2021 [3 favorites]