Scything the allotment

My mate Chris has recently taken on an allotment in Trafford, south Manchester. The other day he mentioned that he’d been thinking of hiring a strimmer to cut the grass on it before he starts to work the soil. A strimmer!

The ground was uneven, there’s weeds and old grass thatch along with the odd brick and old football. It was a brilliant start to my scythe season. A pleasant hour mowing including chatting with a guy from one of the other plots who’d scythed as a young man in Ireland and wanted a go.

If you’d like to learn to scythe, I am running several beginners courses this summer including on 15th June at Hullard Park in Manchester. More info and details at http://stevetomlincrafts.wordpress.com/learn-to-scythe/ or email stevetomlin8[at]gmail.com