Favourite Tools - The Scythe

The scythe is a tool which seems to have gone out of fashion as a useful tool. In actual fact the scythe is enjoying a revival amongst those who are aware of it and it has always been one of my favourite tools.

My first scythe was inherited with our first house along with a Spear and Jackson fork and spade. It was, is, a small garden scythe with a metal handle and I took to it at once. With it, I could deal so easily with nettle patches and other overgrown places. We moved house, and the tools came too, and twelve years later, moved again, but by this time I could no longer buy replacement blades. They were just not obtainable. Everyone was using strimmers. I hung up the scythe and bought a strimmer.

In 2004 I saw an advertisement for Austrian scythes in Permaculture Magazine. Lightweight, sharp, I bought one and joyfully returned to the silent, contemplative mowing of nettles for the compost heaps. There's no cord to tangle round tall stems. It's good for cutting small patches of green manure. Furthermore there is something about the physical movement, the easy swing and the satisfying feel and sound of the cut that allows you to go on for a considerable time without getting tired. And I have managed to acquire some skill in sharpening.

There is now quite a cult of the scythe with meets and competitions both in Britain and abroad. There is literature too. I have The Scythe Book with some history of the development of the scythe, the processes involved in the forging of the blade, (20 odd stages in hand forging one of these blades) and much practical information on its use and care.

If you decide to get a scythe, you will need to set it up with the correct angle of the blade and correct length of snath (handle) for you. The Austrian blades take a very keen edge but need to be cherished, not used indiscriminately as a slashing tool which could spoil the blade with nicks and splits. Beware of lending it. The old scythemen used to say “You can no more lend a man your scythe, than you can your false teeth.

JC

A few websites that could be useful: 
www.thescytheshop.co.uk 
www.scytheconnection.com 
www.scythesupply.com