Common Misinterpretations of the Tai-chi like Motion of Peter Vido's "Mowing with Ease" Field Mowing Technique I should have "nipped this in the bud" years ago, but I didn't want to be rude to the European scythe instructors. But now thanks to the internet, it seems to be spreading all over the world like a weed. Somehow, in Europe they've turned Vido-style mowing, namely mowing with a weight-shift to the side, aka "Mowing with Ease", into a sort of airy-fairy, tippy-toe dance. I learned how to mow from Peter Vido back in 2006, and I know that many of the European scythe instructors learned directly (or indirectly) from him as well. But something must have gotten lost in translation in Europe, and now it's spreading all over, and even to the lands "down under". In order to maintain the higher level of mowing performance (for farming purposes, as opposed to competition mowing), that Peter Vido initiated, I'd like to try to steer it back on track. The goal is to develop and teach and maintain a higher level of efficiency of mowing with a scythe, for successful sustainable farming. Farming with a scythe is a lot of work. Let's not make it any harder, with bad equipment and confusing instruction! Here on my blog, I can post a series of videos for simultaneous comparison. Let's start with the "Scythe Pope" himself. 2 Comments Herbal Hay 05/14/2012
In The Scythe Book, Tresamer talks about the tremendous diversity of plants that old-time hay fields used to have, and he also briefly mentions how farmers used to make special herbal hay with their scythes, for the health and benefit of their animals (and ultimately themselves.) Here in this video below, a mountain farmer from Murau, Austria, explains the optimal stage at which to cut an herbal meadow, for the first cutting of hay, for maximum herbal strength and mineral content. She also talks about the healing properties of some of the herbs, and how much her cows enjoy and benefit from them. Modern fields have much less diversity, and the conventional wisdom now is that the best time to mow hay, is before the grass has started to head out, because it has the most protein at this stage. But from what I've read in old German scythe literature, the traditional time to mow the first cutting was "when the meadow is in bloom", as Maria Berger (Women's World Scythe Champion in 2000) is explaining in the video. Usually around St. John's Day, which is close to the summer solstice. Also happens to coincide with the longest day length of the year, for the quickest drying time of this massive volume of hay. To everything there is a season.  I sometimes peen scythe blades for local scythe people that don't want to peen their own. I see a lot of damaged edges doing this. Most damage occurs when the blade is dull and the owner compensates for that by swinging harder and chopping at the grass. The leverage on the tip of the blade from this force, often pushes the tang to the back of the ring, which opens up the tang angle all the way, and then the full force of the blow hits the edge of the blade straight on, instead of the acute shearing angle it was meant to. If the edge hits a rock straight on like this, you can cause considerable damage, as shown in the picture above. If you keep mowing with this kind of a crack, the crack can snag on an object, and cause even greater damage.
Sepp Holzer is no stranger to the scythe. He harvests his grains with one. He will be in the Midwest in May, teaching urban permaculture. For info see http://teasso.com/The-Rebel-Farmer-comes-to-Detroit/ Prerequisite reading for those of you who are going, or for info for those of you who can't: Sepp Holzer's Permaculture http://www.amazon.com/dp/160358370X/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_3NTJpb0XV3WCJ Also see the DVD's available at http://www.perma-dise.com/products Mowing a Field as a Team 03/07/2012
The 1SR Peening Manual 03/01/2012
 It has been suggested that I publish my 14 page peening manual, so that it could be reviewed. Well it is copyrighted, and I consider it desktop published, and a lot of people have them now. So if you are reading this post, and you have read my manual, please comment on it below. I was going for "crystal clear" step-by-step instructions, accompanied by macro photos, and links to my YouTube videos that illustrate the motions. If you have read it, please let me know how I did.
New Reed Canary Grass Mowing Video 02/27/2012
Baby, it was cold outside! 15 degrees F and breezy! Hence my yeti hat. The snow at the base of the grass, had fallen as wet snow on a warmer day, so it had frozen to be quite firm, and added a lot more resistance to each scythe stroke. So at 2:38 you can see how I really have to put my weight into each stroke. It was also too cold for a wet whetstone, so I just used it dry, to hone the blade. I use the dry grass for straw bedding in my goose house.  Living Like It's 2050 01/14/2012
"Learn how to grow food. Learn how to take care of animals. Learn how to live simply." - Margaret Krone-Lukens Scything in Winter 12/09/2011
I've been mowing my reed canary grass for straw, the past couple of days. If the snow is not too deep, and the grass is still upright, you can mow even in winter, with a scythe. This grass makes a great straw bedding for my geese. | Botan Anderson ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll  |
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