In many valley areas, hay is mown two or three times a season. On our meadows, at 1,500 meters, there's only one mowing a year, and that difference isn't a drawback: it's what defines this hay.
A short, cold spring
Altitude sets the pace. The Pyrenees' cold springs make the grass grow slowly and for a shorter time, so there isn't enough for several cuts like in warmer areas. The climate opens a single window, and we work around it.
A cut somewhere between the first and the second
That slow growth gives a hay that brings together the best of a first cut and a second cut at once: fibrous and balanced, with a good base of fiber and a reasonable proportion of protein. It's a hay meant to be eaten freely without upsetting the animal.
Less quantity, more character
The trade-off of a single mowing is that less hay is harvested, with shorter-stemmed plants. In exchange, that mountain meadow brings together many different species, and that diversity is what gives the hay its aroma and its variety.
What the animal gains
For the rabbit or horse that eats it, the result is a varied, balanced hay, with the fiber it needs and a taste it readily accepts. A single harvest, but full of character.
