What better way to spend a sunny bank holiday than going out to cut the grass? I offered to go and mow a community orchard in Levenshulme, Manchester as the regular volunteers were finding it difficult to cope with the long grass using strimmers and lawnmowers. These are ideal conditions for a scythe and it was in surprisingly good condition and a pleasure to cut.
People often tend to think of scything as a purely rural thing but it is ideally suited to the city too: quiet, safe and capable of working in small areas. We’ll let the cuttings dry for a few days before raking them off and then wait to see what comes up later in the year. Hopefully, as we reduce the fertility of the soil, there’ll be less of the coarse grasses and more wild flowers and grasses.
If you’re involved with a community orchard or meadow, I can come to teach a bespoke course for your group at your site. Details of group courses, private tuition and my regular courses are all on my Learn to Scythe page or email me steve[at]stevetomlincrafts.co.uk
The trees are coming into leaf so it’s time to make beech leaf noyau, a delicious but largely unknown country liqueur based on gin. Beech noyau is very similar to sloe gin in that it’s an infusion of gin with added sugar but instead of using fruit, this uses young beech leaves. Pick them now while they’re still soft then put them in a jar with gin to soak.
