Comments on permaculture in brittany: Learning to Scythe with Simon Fairlie.

Sept. '11 I'm laid low with a bad back, t...

2011-10-03T12:42:46.647+02:00

Sept. '11

I'm laid low with a bad back, thanks to trying to help a friend move a very large and very ugly repro duke box so have been slogging my way through my inbox.

That's my excuse for not replying to your comments earlier. Thank you for stopping by to leave a comment, I always appreciate them.

Phil, the sharpening is critical and so, yes, I'd agree the course is worth going on just to be shown how to set up the scythe on its snath and sharpen and hone it.

dND, my handle (snath)is made out of ash, so is very light. I know the ones you're referring to, which don't allow (as far as I can see) for one to get one's hands in the correct position. You should be able to cut brush with a scythe if you have the right sort of blade, that it's correctly sharpened and the hafting angle is quite sharp (so you cut a thinner slice with each sweep) giving the scythe an easier time with such hard material. If you can combine a trip to the UK with a visit to Simon Fairlie, do so; yuou won't regret it!

For larger areas the scythe knocks spots off the s...

2011-09-09T17:02:01.119+02:00

For larger areas the scythe knocks spots off the strimmer in every respect weight, speed, noise and general feeling of smugness at not using petrol.
Understanding how to sharpen the blade is worth the course in itself I would think.

The scythe doesn't drown out the wildlife or d...

2011-08-24T23:45:56.940+02:00

The scythe doesn't drown out the wildlife or damage your hearing either. I still have the petrol strimmer as I can't cut brush with the scythe but love using the scythe when I can.

Mine's a simple (and cheap) one from Gamm Vert and for me has the advantage of an aluminium handle as I have a dodgy back. Mind you it took nearly a year to get a good edge on the blade, the info on Simon's web site was invaluable. Needless to say I'm a little jealous of your course :-)