This farm scene from the 1920s shows neighbours working together to harvest each other’s hay during the hot summer months.
A mother and children bring ‘smoko’ into the paddock while one man sweeps hay towards the stack and others use pitchforks to build the stack – a job which required much skill.
The part of the mural showing a 1920s truck is copied directly from a photograph taken on his farm by early Katikati photographer Otto Diggelmann.
For the women, haymaking meant providing hearty morning and afternoon teas with plenty of cakes and scones cooked in the ovens of their wood-fired stoves. At mid-day dinner was served in the farmhouse kitchen – a full roast meal followed by a pudding.
Mary Jones lives on a farm and specialises in painting and drawing animals and farm scenes. She deliberately chose to use pastel shades in this mural.
