Written by The Rabbit Hole Hay Team
Soft Orchard Grass can be harvested from the second through fourth cuts. Like Timothy Hay, the first cut of Orchard Grass grows very Coarse, with lots of seed heads and thick stocks but that is where the similarities between the two end. Orchard Grass second through fourth cuts are extremely soft with almost all leaves. We generally select our Soft Orchard Grass based on whichever cut turns out to be the best in that given year.
Harvest: Second through fourth cut of pure Orchard Grass
Color: Described as blue green, especially when compared to Timothy Hay.
Stems/Stalks: There should essentially be no stems (stalks) in a quality Soft Orchard Grass.
Leaves: Soft Orchard Grass should be composed entirely of leaves.
Seed Heads/Flowers: Usually the seed heads, also called flowers, will not be found, but if they are found they will be very small .5 inches or less. The lack of seed heads is what allows many people with allergies to prefer this hay over others.
Our goal is to offer the highest quality hay, however, all naturally grown and harvested hay holds minor imperfections such as dust, weeds, leaf crush, and brown leaf. The ideal version of Soft Orchard Grass would have none of these.
The 2021 Ultra Premium Soft Orchard Grass we have in stock is currently a second cut.
Here is the report on what we have in stock:
Overall Rating: 8/10
Harvest: Second cut of Orchard Grass with a very slight amount of Alfalfa in it, it was harvested in August of 2021.
Location: Northern California
Color: Blue Green
Stems/Stalks: There are no noticeable stems to speak of.
Leaves: Made up of mostly long, full leaves.
Seed Heads/Flowers: None
Leaf Crush: Minimal
Weeds: We noticed a little bit of Alfalfa in this, this is fairly normal for Orchard Grass as it is typical for our farmer to transition an Alfalfa field over to Orchard and provide an Orchard/Alfalfa blend, we always request the fields that were transitioned a long time ago and have as little Alfalfa in them as possible.
Brown Leaf: Little to none.
Dust: None
Summary: This year's Soft Orchard Grass is a great example of what Soft Orchard Grass should be. It has a nice full leaf structure with almost no leaf crush. The only reason that it does not get a 10/10 is the little brown leaf scattered throughout and because of the a small amount of Alfalfa that was found.
This year's Soft Orchard Grass is a great example of what Soft Orchard Grass should be. It has a nice full leaf structure with almost no leaf crush. The only reason that it does not get a 10/10 is the little brown leaf scattered throughout and because of the a small amount of Alfalfa that was found.
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