The Sweet Smell of Hay

The sweet smell of hay reminds us of Judy’s late father. For six decades, Bob Gifford took immense pride in “putting up” high quality hay.  Good hay has a unique and wonderful aroma.  We checked out why and found that the distinct smell of newly mown hay is the trademark scent of coumarin; sweet, herbaceous, with a spicy fresh top note. Sounds like the description of a fine bottle of wine!!

Coumarin is a chemical compound which is found naturally in some plants, although it can be synthetically produced as well. It has a distinctive odor which has led people to use it as a food additive and ingredient in perfume since 1882. It is among the most popular ingredients in perfumes and is included in almost 90% of them!

“The pliability and versatility of this fragrance note is legendary, accounting for a sweet and fresh facet that rises up from the bottom onto the heart of the fragrance, lingering on the skin for hours and enriching a perfume composition via its scent magic.”

Thanks to the four perfect haymaking days (sunny, breezy and low humidity) last week and the help of the Gary Miller who mowed, tedded and raked the hay as well as Chuck Hocking who baled the hay into the 75 big (755 lbs each!) square bales, we have a barn full of high quality orchard grass hay.