Videos

One Hoe Revolution - From Lawns to Food Gardens

A radical hoe for our radical times.

November 2009 -- Trimming evergreens with a "grass" blade

There is a diversity of cutting techniques demonstrated here, but rather than instructional per se, these few short clips are meant as a satire -- challenging to the "brush blade mentality". We purposefully used the lightest (in relation to length) blade from those listed in our catalogue (370 gm., 65cm.) and a homemade willow (Salix alba) snath weighing 1 1/2 lbs.

Summer 2009 -- short videos of mowing a lawn

We made these short clips for the benefit of a popular writer who claimed great fondness for the scythe, yet still believed that it was a tool for the cutting of tall grass only -- and consequently recommended that people wishing to ready themselves for the transition into post-carbon reality (or let's just say "sustainable living arrangements") and if they wish to keep their classical lawn, obtain a reel mower. We, of course, disagree... (Read more)

What Ashley is cutting here are various areas of our homestead's yard, all of which are trimmed several times during the season when still relatively short -- and always to ground level. (see photo)

Clip #1 shows the mowing of the "traffic zone" -- which is trampled nearly on a daily basis by people, animals and vehicles. It is therefore cut most frequently, whenever it reaches 8 to 10 cm of growth, down to nearly nothing. Notice that Ashley is leaning forward somewhat more so than otherwise. The reason? As explained in the note this very short and trampled grass requires the application of extra downwards pressure.

The 3 clips in Series 1 show the mowing of an area which we try to avoid trampling much, and usually cut at about 30cm of height.

The down pressure is still applied but less so than in clip #1. Ashley is leaning over less, in part also because she is using the one-grip style snath -- which in itself encourages a more upright posture.

In all these scenes an 85cm blade was used. The swath width is approximately 270 -280cm and forward advance at a stroke 20-25cm.

The kitten and the scythe

The End of Cheap Oil and The Rise of the Scythe:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dVv597m848s    BEWARE -- The YouTube cops muted the whole video because we used a few seconds of Bob Dylan's music without asking permission!

QuickTime format with audio

Synopsis: A 14-year-old girl with a scythe, cutting circles around a tractor equipped with a mowing machine! Far-fetched? Today - perhaps. Tomorrow - the use of simple hand tools will make increasing sense in direct proportion to the rising costs, economic and otherwise, of operating oil-dependent machinery. Long live the power of human bodies!

There is no trick photography in this video; it is a genuine documentary of the efficiency of this ecological tool, the scythe.
Read more

Thanks to Alexander Vido (camera) Greg Hemmings (editing) and Jesse Cottingham. "Blowin' in the Wind" © Bob Dylan.

Our old QuickTime mowing video:

• Small (176x128 pixels; 2.5 MB)
  
  
• Large (320x240 pixels; 17 MB)
  
  

Also on YouTube. Click here. The abbreviated description:

Short scenes demonstrating the versatility of a good scythe in diverse conditions--from "lawn" and field cutting to an "obstacle course" requiring precision mowing techniques. No audio--it got lost in the editing process. Some of the mowing is done by Ashley and Fairlight Vido. When this video was shot in 2003, they were 10 and 13 years old and already good mowers. They are not expending a lot of energy, because they have good tools and have learned the skill.
Credits: Fairlight Vido, Greg Hemmings, Todd Snyder and David Patriquin.

This "short film" is a temporary substitute for a good, full-length instructional video on hand mowing. We were advised that for a video to be easily played/downloaded, and also to accommodate modern attention spans, the length should not exceed five minutes. Attempting at the same time to present a variety of possible applications, most scenes are shorter than the ideal. However, it serves as an introduction for those who: a) have never seen the scythe being used at all, and b) have always thought that this is a "man's tool" and cannot imagine how it can be wielded by a 10- to 13-year-old. As well, it will demonstrate that a scythe can be used to cut very close to obstacles and reach places where a sicklebar, a rotary mower, or a string trimmer cannot--regardless of the height of the grass.