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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> > > I mow 3+ acres...with lots of trees and obstacles.  There are
> > > other
> > areas which can only be weed-eated due to large rocks.  I suppose
> > all of that together would be close to 4 acres that would need to
> > be cut at least once a week, twice if it rains.  James, at one
> > time, said how long it takes him to cut an acre, but I have
> > forgotten.  James?  How long would it take you to cut 4 acres?
> > Bearing in mind that James is an expert in this art.
>
> It's a trick question.  Scything is a pleasure, not a pentance.   As
> far as the hay fields go (and they are just now ripening), in the
> early morning on dry days (which today isn't) while others are doing
> the milking and tending the other animals, I will sneak off to the
> lower hay fields and do, at the most, 1/8th acre, about 50' x 100'.
> By then I'm ready for breakfast.

I did not mean for it to be a trick question-wasn't trying to trap you
or weasel out, not really anyway.  I just needed to get an idea of how long.
> Keep in mind though that for me the goal is not to "get 'er done"
> rather it's to be doing it.  By plodding along like this I will get
> four acres done in a month.  If I wanted to get the hay put up, I
> could do about four times that much and enjoy it far less.

Ah, but that is where my situation differs.  We host a monthly astronomy
event here, so I do have to 'git er done' on a timeline.  People walk
from the pastures to the house, so all areas have to be mowed before the
new moon Saturday.  Unlike you, I suspect I would be the person enjoying
it less than you, and I don't have your workforce to help, either.
Nevertheless, I'd still like to try it, maybe not to replace mowing, but
to supplement it.  I DO like listening to nature, and I am very aware of
my surroundings.  I don't like the noise of the lawnmower, and I surely
don't like to crank it.  Maybe I could scythe the yard and a path to the
barn, etc. and mow less...use the scythe to hit the hit spots and make
it not so snakey(that is a real danger here when the grass gets tall).
I suspect, however, since I know  no one who does this, that my friends,
family and neighbors would think it a stunt should I suddenly start
scything.  The biggest advantage might be that the scythe can be used on
wet grass, right?

> Not only grass but clover, vetch, plantain, yellow dock, and all
> manner of other high protein vegetation.    When it can be thus
> managed, we cut this thick growth, put it on screen racks and dry it
> thoroughly, then pack it away in old fiber sacks for feeding the
> rabbits and chickens in the winter.  You can raise up quite a bit of
> rabbit meat on this 'weed hay' alone.

I used to do the same with my rabbits, but I did not use feed sacks.  I
raked it onto a tarp in the sun to dry, and when it was dry I folded the
tarp in half and hung it in the barn.  Hay sling.


> Since these areas are paths and corners and odd bits around fences
> and posts, the long grass blade isn't the best.  So I have one of
> those relatively cheapie drop forged short steel blades (brush blade)
> on a curved snath that stays oiled (snath and blade) down at the
> garden.  Since it is not damasked steel, I keep a common 6" mill file
> in my pocket and  sharpen the blade by moving the file straight down
> the blade (not with or against the edge but straight across it) and
> then lightly strop the other side in the same manner. This gives the
> blade a very slightly serrated edge and thus it cuts through the
> biggest clump of fescue with no effort at all.

This may be more of what I would need.

B

--
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public
debt  should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered
and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
lest Rome become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work, instead of
living on public assistance."

--Cicero, 55 BC
http://erthnsky.blogspot.com/