We are often asked if it is possible to mow a lawn with a scythe. The answer is yes and there are many people in the UK doing just that! Lawn mowing can be a test of a scythers skill, it takes some thought and practice to do well. Here is a summery of the factors you need to consider if you are thinking of … Continue reading Mowing a Lawn with a Scythe
At the end of January Phil and I travelled to the winter meeting of the Scythe Association (SABI). This year the meeting was hosted by Richard Brown in Norfolk. As well as attending to the business of the Scythe Association the group spent two enjoyable sessions mowing in the wetland nature reserve that Richard helps manage. Called “The Saltings”, the approximately 8 hectare reserve is … Continue reading Mowing Reed in Norfolk
The Austrian scythe is a versatile tool which we put to many uses on our holding. Here is a nice video featuring Peter Vido, the man who first introduced us to the Austrian scythe, showing some of the types of work a scythe can be put to. Note his relaxed mowing style.
Winter is somewhat of a quiet season for the scythe but for a number of years now Richard Brown, member of the Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland (SABI), has been giving fellow members an opportunity to get in a bit of winter mowing by cutting reed on the wildlife reserve he manages in Norfolk. Phil went up and helped last year, when the cutting … Continue reading Cutting Norfolk Reed with a Scythe
The late summer weather has not been easy haying weather. If we waited for 4 or 5 days of sunny weather in a row, as is commonly suggested as needed for hay making, we wouldn’t have made much! In fact, there have only been two occasions which might qualify in the last two months, 7th – 10th July and 15th -18th August, and neither … Continue reading Late Summer Haying and Mowing Grains with a Scythe
Today was one of the Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust’s regular workdays. One of the tasks on the agenda was trimming the hedge banks of the access track. The middle section of the track, already rather narrow, was beginning to worry car drivers with it’s luxorious growth of bracken, bramble, fern and saplings. Cue some rather unusual scything techniques. Standing with the hedge to our right, … Continue reading Hedge trimming with a scythe
I mowed a Labyrinth into the Top Field for a Summer Solstice celebration we held at the Trust on 22nd June. Using our trimming scythe and a Profisense 50cm blade I mowed a narrow path through the wild flowers based on a traditional pattern. A sketch of the design of the labyrinth We have found mowing a couple of paths and a labyrinth into the … Continue reading Things We Do With a Scythe 5 – mowing a Labyrinth