Yesterday was a long but beautiful day, a little bit cloudy and less hot summer days. I was planning for a long time to go to a location called Staryi Saltiv (Старый Салтов) which is known as Old Saltov of Kharkiv Oblast. New Saltov is a developed Urban settlement with modern functions. On the other hand, Staryi Saltiv is an Urban type settlement located in Chuhuiv Region, more like a suburban area with huge agricultural lands and settlements. From the city center, it takes around 45 minutes to go to Staryi Saltiv. Only a bus or taxi or private car is the only way to go there.
If I need to be more specific on geo-location, the area is located near to the right of Donets riverbank. A huge dam has been constructed here to save the water for agriculture and the reservoir name is Pechenyhi Reservoir. So, wheat, sunflowers, and other crops grow here rapidly and people mostly do farming and business here.
Wheat and Sunflower are two main crops that grow here rapidly. Every year tons of wheat are harvested from this location. This year was not exceptional. I was really curious to know more about agriculture and the potentiality of these lands. Only a few things I have found so far, these lands are so fertile.
We started our trip around 3 pm from the center of the Kharkiv. The organizer arranged our transport and planned our entire trip. The spot we wanted to go to was 2 hours away drive from Kharkiv City, near Donets River. Transport arrangement is a big issue there, only bus and private transports go there. Some taxi services accept the request but there are limitations and the fare is high. Around 450 UAH for a one-sided route.
The sky was cloudy, we felt that rain will be there and will ruin our trip but we were lucky. Due to cloudy weather, the atmosphere was not hot at all and we didn't feel tired and exhausted. We were 5 people together on this long whole-day trip.
We enjoyed the vastness and mesmerizing scenery of the agricultural fields of Ukraine in the entire journey. The organizer explained a lot of things to us. She explained about the Ukrainian Culture, the harvest time of wheat fields, and production as well. From her explanation, we came to know that these fields are owned by different large companies and organizations.
After the harvest, wheatgrass or straws have been piled into large round or square shapes. Mostly freshly cut wheatgrass piled into a round giant shape which you are seeing in the picture. Straws are piled into square shapes.
The field you are seeing is owned by a renowned milk factory. They produced milk and they have farms full of cows. So after harvest, they keep these wheatgrasses and straws for cows.
Another name of the straw is Hay and a familiar name as well. The round hay is called Round Bale. Ranchers and farmers use them to feed their cattle. Square hays are easy to store and shaped in a way to be stored for the long term. The difference between round and square bale is the machinery, what type of machinery has been used. After harvest, these round bales are kept for sun-dry.
On our way to Donets Riverbank, we decided to take a short break and explore these giant round hays. The sky was full of white and black clouds and the sun was peeping behind the clouds. While walking on the large field, I felt the vastness of nature. Only the empty field and hays as far as my eyes have seen.
This is our organizer, a very nice young woman...
I have edited these pictures using adobe photoshop to give an artistic look. Original pictures were gloomy and dark due to sunlight and the real colors were not visible at all. We spend an hour there walking on the field and taking some pictures.
I hadly saw any settlements near the field, after harvest honestly the field looked so empty...
I have managed to climb up one of the giant round hays. The boyfriend helped me to climb that vast hay. The hay was almost 7.5 feet in height so without help it was impossible to climb up.
It was a beautiful trip indeed and learned so many new things. The interesting part is in my native country the shape of the hay is completely different, more of a conical shape but here round or cube form shape is popular.
A few days ago someone was asking me why I explore such locations. My answer was, people always go to tourist and famous spots, I discover new locations for people...
Until next time... Have a nice day everyone...
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