Category: scythe

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Scything for Sassenachs

One of my early blog posts from 2019, before we moved onto the croft, was about us wanting to buy an Austrian scythe to work the land.

It feels like another milestone achieved in that our first scythe arrived in the post a few days ago.

Of course, once husband had assembled and peened the scythe (oooh, technical scythy term there 😊) it was clearly time to don the silly face and swoop around the croft like DEATH from a Terry Pratchett novel.

It was a mercy for us all that he doesn’t own a hoodie…

(Dog watching in trepidation from the safety of the caravan).

On a more serious note, it was lovely to watch him cutting a swathe through the reed clumps with an increasingly confident, relaxed swing. No petrol fumes, no engine noise, no protective face shield.

Just the sound of the birds, the burble of the burn and the gentle swishing noise of the blade through the weeds.

Every bit as good as we’d imagined.

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The Vault of Black Gold

On a couple of dry days this week husband built and put up a compost bin.

I say a compost bin, it’s more a super deluxe compost city. The worms in this complex will be living in ultimate compost style, the Des Res of Decomposition, the Mansion of Manure, the Penthouse of Poo, our very own Vault of Black Gold! 😉

With three bays, removable front slats for easier inspection and turning, and a roof (yet to come) to protect from the worst of the elements, I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out.

We have a tonne of organic, peat free bought compost with which we’ll start the beds off this year, and we’ll layer the homegrown stuff with what’s left of this.

I’ve found a local lady with donkeys on her croft who is happy to give us bags of straw and donkey poo, and Angus, our village crofter keeps cows, so I think maybe a conversation there could be had too.

That and applications of seaweed from the local shoreline as well as vegetable waste and croft scythings and I’m really hopeful that it will be successful.

With a bit of luck from the soil gods this time next year we’ll be digging in our very own black gold.. 😊

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Scything on Skye

We’ve been looking at the practicality of using a scythe to keep the rushes and weeds under control between the trees on the croft.

We find the idea of using manual tools one that sits comfortably with our philosophy for the land. No fumes, no noise, no pollution…🤔

There are times and certain tasks for which mechanical tools would absolutely be needed, but it would seem that scythes can be an effective alternative to keeping the grass down between the trees. I’m in touch with a couple of crofters and gardeners in Scotland who use and recommend an Austrian scythe.

Scything it seems, is undergoing a renaissance in Britain, fuelled in part by the increased interest in the permaculture movement and the desire to become less dependant on gas guzzling implements.

Used here from Anglo-Saxon times right up until the 1940s, they’re a genuinely simple and effective tool, and as the great Paul Kingsnorth says, ” they will doubtless be around long after the Flymo has faded into legend. Keep the blade honed, and know how to use them, and you have probably the most efficient tool for cutting grass ever developed. This is proven entertainingly year after year at the Somerset Scythe Festival where the annual ‘scythe versus strimmer’ contest is always won by the scythe.”

Paul Kingsnorth is a compelling voice, and a very talented writer. This article really resonated with me with regard to not just the renaissance in the use of old tools, but the reconnection with the land and inherited skills that once lost, we never fully recapture. Here’s the link to the article

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2010-07-27/snatch-old-song/