Here is Phil mowing in the Top Field early yesterday morning. The crop is shorter then usual after a cool spring, although it never grows very long on the majority of this herb rich meadow dominated by Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus ).
We have about quarter of an acre down now, cut in three morning sessions of about an hour each. Phil will mow for about an hour again tomorrow, then we will concentrate on finishing the area of hay that is down and getting it in the barn / up on racks before he leaves for the Scythe Festival on Wednesday. A dull day today slowed progress a little, but the first batch, cut Tuesday morning, will probably be ready tomorrow evening.
The picture of Phil took me back to my childhood. I was brought up in Liverpool and hadn’t seen farm land, never mind a scythe. Despite that, one of the few bits of advice I got from my Dad was ‘If you ever use a scythe, stand in buckets’. And no, I don’t.
Dan