Tag Archives: scythe

Garden and veg patch mowing

Posted on August 13, 2011 by stevetomlin

A week full of mowing this week and all the better for it being different interesting conditions. Yesterday I mowed a garden which I’d previously mown with my scythe at the beginning of July. The grass had just grown back … Continue reading →

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Mowing weeds & rushes

Posted on August 11, 2011 by stevetomlin

During the winter I worked on a friend’s farm planting up some areas with a mix of hardwood trees. This week I’ve had two interesting days of work clearing the vegetation which has had all year to grow up in … Continue reading →

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Feedback from Mowing Courses

Posted on August 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

It’s always nice to hear back from folk who’ve been on a course, especially to find they’ve been bitten by the scythe ‘bug’.  These folk were on the ‘Learn to mow..’ course at Sprint Mill at the beginning of July. … Continue reading →

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Mowing on the Black Isle

Posted on August 1, 2011 by stevetomlin

Continuing our international mowing theme, Christiane & I are just back from the Black Isle, Scotland where we ran a two day mowing course for members of the Transition Black Isle group. We took a few days to work our … Continue reading →

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"Thus it was when Grandfather harvested"

Posted on July 24, 2011 by stevetomlin

Before Steve returns with news of adventures in the Czech Republic, here’s some from Denmark. Knowing our interest in scything, our hosts in northern Denmark pointed out an old photograph (below) in the local paper promoting a haymaking day using old methods, tools and machinery. Undeterred … Continue reading →

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Dawn mowing at Brantwood

Posted on July 23, 2011 by stevetomlin

Sally Beamish, Estate Manager at Brantwood, the former home of John Ruskin and perhaps the most idyllic house in the Lake District,  invited the north-west scything group to a dawn mow of a lakeside haymeadow which is at present cut … Continue reading →

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Sharpometer

Posted on July 14, 2011 by stevetomlin

One of the keys to efficient, easy mowing is a sharp blade acheived through peening and sharpening with whetstones. But how sharp is sharp? This year for the Somerset Scythe Festival there was talk of having a peening competition which, … Continue reading →

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Russian Snaths

Posted on July 8, 2011 by stevetomlin

The production company for ‘Anna Karenina’ have decided they want 30 extras for the mowing scene with Levin. At the beginning of the week I was commissioned to make the straight Russian-style snaths for everyone. Since time is short and … Continue reading →

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Cumbria Scythe Weekend

Posted on July 4, 2011 by stevetomlin

What a weekend! Under glorious blue skies I spent two fantastic days of mowing at Sprint Mill near Kendal. On Saturday I ran the second of my ‘Mowing with an Austrian Scythe’ courses for a group of 6 students. This … Continue reading →

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Extra Extra!

Posted on June 25, 2011 by stevetomlin

In amongst all the other goings-on at this year’s Somerset Scythe Festival was a woman searching out extras for a scene in the new Anna Karenina film starring Jude Law and Keira Knightley. By all accounts there’s a scene featuring … Continue reading →

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