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  • From: Scott Vlaun <scott@moosepondarts.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] Seeds and Scythes
  • Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 22:42:37 -0400

Dear all,

Inspired by Sandy and the recent post about Scythe Supply, I thought it was about time to introduce myself to the list. I've been "lurking" since I stumbled on the list shortly after my interview with Bill Mollison was published in the Seeds of Change eNewsletter earlier this year. I found the list's spirited response to the interview both informative and entertaining and have been equally informed and entertained since.

Besides producing the Seeds of Change catalog, website and eNewsletter, (I've been doing their photography for 9 years—last year was our first year of producing, designing etc.) my wife and I are developing a piece of land in Western Maine and trying to apply what we've learned of PC principles from books and discussions, not to mention the interview with Mr. Mollison. The property (around 40 acres) was partially logged off just before we bought it. We are cleaning it up and creating buildings and gardens using mostly available materials with the help of a small band saw mill and the hard working farmers that piled tons of stone in to cultivate the land 200 years ago, The land has since grown in to a fairly mature forest of which the loggers cleared a couple of acres for their landing. This is where we are building our gardens. We have about an acre under cultivation, mostly in raised beds as it's pretty wet here in the spring. We've been at it three years and are slowly recovering and building up the severely compacted and disturbed soils. As the land was pasture at one time, albeit over 100 years ago, there is more topsoil than the surrounding forest (about 6-8 inches vs 2-4) but the growing conditions are anything but optimal. (another reason for the raised beds) We've been building a lot of compost and covercropping and each year has been better and we're able to provide for a good part of our food. We are hoping to get into some small grain production to increase that percentage. Any info on that topic would be appreciated. That brings me around to Scythe Supply.

Like some others of you, I had recently been in touch with Eliot Fishbein about his Scythes. I was extremely impressed by his knowledge and passion for the subject and was hoping to team up Scythe Supply and Seeds of Change to Promote this eco-sane method of mowing. Shortly after I spoke with him about it and arranged to go and see him, (his farm is about 4 hours drive from us) I was shocked to hear that he had been killed in a car crash. His family and friends are continuing the business after a short hiatus, but the future of Scythe Supply remains unclear. We ended up going to his farm anyway and met his long-time partner, Carol Bryan and did some mowing with her using Eliot's scythes. He had amassed quite a collection of quality blades and hardware and developed his own European style snath to go with them. I couldn't get over how much better they worked that the old clunker American model that I have. I think Eliot will be sorely missed as a resource where one could turn for knowledge and hardware. Hopefully someone, if not Carol and friends, will fill the void.

Thank you all for your contributions to this list and best regards,

Scott Vlaun
Otisfield, Maine

On Thursday, August 29, 2002, at 08:27 PM, Sandy wrote:

Thanks for speaking out. I signed up recently and have been more than a
little taken aback by the fractiousness of this list! I have considered
bowing out, but I really am interested in learning from some obviously very
knowledgeable people. Anyway, hello, I'm Sandy. Don't eat me ;-)





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