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The Art of Scything

by Trish Allen of Rainbow Valley Farm

A modern take on an ancient farming method is becoming a new movement sweeping the lush pastures of New Zealand.

The art of scything has seen a recent resurgence with permaculturalists and Ecoshow directors Joanna Pearsall and Bryan Innes holding a series of workshops around the country starting at Rainbow Valley Farm under the expert eye of visiting Austrian scything teacher Christoff Schneider.

A scythe can be used for many things: mowing the lawn, cutting long grass, harvesting grain or cutting scrub, tasks normally done using a mower, brushcutter or weedeater. New and lighter ergonomically designed tools with specialist razor-sharp blades are able to be wielded with an almost effortless effectiveness that would put the average weedeater to shame.

“It’s appropriate technology,” Innes explains.

“And what I mean by that is that we have many technologies today which are industrial based, fossil fuel based, which actually have very heavy carbon footprints. And very often they’re not as efficient as the older technologies.”

Scything is much easier on the body than using a weed eater or scrub bar Innes says.

“These scythes are designed ergonomically around the human body rather than around the blade. So they’re very, very efficient. You could scythe all day without wearing yourself out.”

“You’re not putting stress on your back, they’re very sensible tools and available just to get out and go. They don’t need a workshop to maintain the tool, you don’t have to go down to the garage to get the petrol, you don’t have to choke on the fumes. “

People can learn the basics of scything in just a three-hour workshop, ready to practice at home.

The workshops include showing people how to maintain the blades, Pearsall said.

“We’ve been showing people how to whet and how to peen. Whetting is about smoothing the edge of the blade so that it’s becomes a razor edge again, and peening is about creating the edge again, if it gets damaged.”

The blades used and available for purchase come from a factory in Austria that has been producing them for 500 years. If cared for they will last a lifetime.

“They’re probably the best in the world,” said Pearsall.

Scything has health benefits too, Innes said.

“Because the scythe is ergonomically designed you’re using your body really well and you’re keeping a nice upright posture. You are not loading up your back. you’re not doing anything harmful. In actual fact it’s a bit like doing tai chi or yoga, it’s very good exercise and because grass never stops growing it’s a discipline that keeps you healthy.”

For more information please go to www.ecoshow.co.nz or contact jo (at) ecoshow.co.nz

Trish Allen

32 years ago my late husband, Joe Polaischer, and I co-founded Rainbow Valley Farm, an organic farm and permaculture education centre near the village of Matakana in the north of New Zealand. Over those years we ran farm tours and permaculture-related courses including PDCs. Joe died suddenly in 2008, and I moved on from the farm to the village. Rainbow Valley Farm is now being run by a family who are continuing the work Joe and I started. Joe and I discovered permaculture in the early 1980s and were totally inspired by the concept. It made sense to us and we were keen to put it into action. After doing PDCs, we bought 50 acres of run-down farmland and established Rainbow Valley Farm (see above) where we created an abundant permaculture paradise. Since leaving the farm in November 2010 I have made a new home for myself in the village and created a mini permaculture paradise with 50 fruit trees around my small eco-house. I am also teaching PDCs and other permaculture related courses and my new passion is waste minimisation. I co-founded Mahurangi Wastebusters in 2017 and our mission is to reduce waste to landfill and recover resources for the benefit of our community.

9 Comments

  1. I must concur on this. When I studied organic biological agriculture we used scythes between alternating rows of crop and green manure – cutting the green manure and applying it as mulch to the crops inches away. Scythes are fast, extremely efficient and using them is almost therapy. There is no noise or fumes to disturb the peaceful execution of your tasks. Appropriate technology indeed.

  2. Where do I get one? I’m just on my way outside to slash grass with the brushcutter and I’m not looking forward to that hot noisy dusty experience but I have too to protect from fires.

  3. I like using a scythe but am limited due to rocky soil and if the land has not been cared for and grazed it tends to have a lot of woody material it is natural for it to revert back to a forest.

  4. My grandparents grew and harvested millet with a scythe We thrashed it by hand and hulled it in a wooden stomping device called a stoopa
    The cooked cereal was wonderful with fresh raw milk -goat and cow.
    The old stoopa was sent to a museum in Stockton California.

  5. Same question, where do I get one? I asked at several hardware stores yet. There’s scythes.com.au, but it seems to me a bit expensive.

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