Using the scythe
I’m nostalgic. I’ve been accused of spending too much time with old stuff and hanging on to people who long ago escaped my gravity.
Much of the old stuff is still usable, or could be.
A couple of months ago I took down an old scythe and labored away at sharpening the blade.
I didn’t spend enough time with it to do anything but gouge up the blade.
Most people have never used a scythe. But before there were sling-blades, tractor-pulled brush-cutters and weed trimmers, a scythe was the thing. They were, in fact, the only thing.
A scythe is a blade about a yard long attached to long curved wooden handle. They are a very old technology, thousands of years old, and is the tool held by the character “The Grim Reaper.”
Did you ever wonder how the ancients, who grew grains, harvested them?
With a sharp blade a fellow can do a lot of cutting.
Before Cyrus Mccormick invented the “Mccormick Reaper” all wheat and standing grains were harvested by hand with a scythe.
They are still used in some parts of the world but not much around here except in agricultural demonstrations.
It is hard to find someone who has actually used one but my physician claims he has but not lately. I have no reason to doubt what Dr. Patel told me but he tells me so many tales I feel the need to do some sifting.
The thing that adds credibility to his claim is that when I invited him down to Dog River to participate in a nostalgic demonstration, he declined with such determination that I was convinced.
Someone who had to use a scythe isn’t anxious to do it for fun.
There are, however, people who love the scythe and it is the only thing for people who grow small patches of grain.
I found an old guy in Alabama teaches using the scythe and other homesteading skills.
In an email exchange he said that it only takes a few minutes to learn the scythe and once the rhythm is established a sharp blade will cut through grain and brush quickly with little effort.
According to Andy, the going is slow in rocky ground because you have to stop to sharpen the blade.
There is, according to him, increasing interest by people who want to live on a few acres and become self-sufficient.
I think a trip to L.A. (Lower Alabama) is in my future.
An added benefit, Andy said, is that in learning to use a scythe you’ll discover muscles you didn’t know you had.