I should have "nipped this in the bud" years ago, but I didn't want to be rude to the European scythe instructors. But now thanks to the internet, it seems to be spreading all over the world like a weed. Somehow, in Europe they've turned Vido-style mowing, namely mowing with a weight-shift to the side, aka "Mowing with Ease", into a sort of airy-fairy, tippy-toe dance. I learned how to mow from Peter Vido back in 2006, and I know that many of the European scythe instructors learned directly (or indirectly) from him as well. But something must have gotten lost in translation in Europe, and now it's spreading all over, and even to the lands "down under". In order to maintain the higher level of mowing performance (for farming purposes, as opposed to competition mowing), that Peter Vido initiated, I'd like to try to steer it back on track. The goal is to develop and teach and maintain a higher level of efficiency of mowing with a scythe, for successful sustainable farming. Farming with a scythe is a lot of work. Let's not make it any harder, with bad equipment and confusing instruction!

Here on my blog, I can post a series of videos for simultaneous comparison. Let's start with the "Scythe Pope" himself.

And now the video that is regarded by many as the quintessential example of good mowing technique, starring Peter Vido's daughter, Ashley, mowing almost completely mature Reed Canary grass.

Below are three examples of what I consider to be misinterpretations of Peter's new technique. Can you see the difference? Depending on one's understanding, the difference can be either subtle or substantial. If the scythe must dance, the first two videos are examples of what I call the "head-bobbin', tippy-toe dance".

Below is an example of what I call "The Wiggle-Waggle" dance.

Peter Vido explains his principles of the mechanics of his field mowing style at http://scytheconnection.com/adp/docs/movement.html

and in The Scythe Book. When I was a beginner, I tried to learn how to mow with a Scythe Supply scythe and The Scythe Book, and had a lot of trouble getting the results described in the book. It was very confusing. Mainly because my equipment didn't work the way Peter described it should, but also because it is confusing to learn a complex physical motion by reading about it. Here is a rarely seen video of me mowing back in the early days, prior to the 2006 Symposium. Here I am trying to mow Vido-style with a ill-fitting snath and the very open and heavy and infamous Redtenbacher blade. I can't say that I was "mowing with ease". If you are a beginner and confused, take heart, I was once there myself. I thought I was doing something wrong, but mostly the problem was the short-comings of my tool.

In 2006 I attended the International Scythe Symposium in Canada, and finally experienced what really good scythe and peening equipment was like, and started to learn how to use them well. Then I started importing scythes from Peter Vido and from Austria, and teaching scythe workshops. By 2009 I was selling on the internet and needed a better way to teach my mail-order customers how to mow, so I created this video for them.

With Peter's new field mowing style, you mow with a wider stance, and use the inertia of you shifting weight to add power to the scythe stroke. It's a smooth, direct, level, and natural, Tai-Chi like motion. It transfers inertia from your core, to your shoulders arms and hands, and through the snath to the blade. There is no up and down motion in this weight shift. Peter redesigned the traditional snath to be more ergonomic, and to transfer this extra power more directly to the blade, for this motion. It also requires a more closed hafting angle on the blade than is traditional with the Austrians, and the blades that I sell are set for this.
 
In the video below, you can see an exaggerated example of me mowing with this Tai-Chi like motion. Here I am mowing 6 ft. tall Reed Canary Grass with frozen snow at the base. Because of the extra resistance of the thick stems, and frozen snow, I had to put a lot more power into each scythe stroke. I widened my stance even more than shoulder width, so that I could lean forward more and really put my weight into each scythe stroke. This may require a more closed hafting angle, and you may need to add a wedge to the tang, to lower the tang angle a bit, so that the blade lays flat, and the tip doesn't catch and dig in.

To be continued...

"Auf steilen Berghängen sind die Wiesen nur händisch zu bearbeiten - dafür gibt´s dort viele Kräuter und Blumen. Die Bergbäurin Maria Berger aus Murau in Österreich weiss nicht nur, was sie am Sensenmähen so besonders mag, sondern auch, wann der beste Zeitpunkt für den ersten Schnitt ist. Nämlich dann, wenn die meisten Kräuter, Blumen und Gräser wachsen. Aus diesem Gras wird dann das Heu, das den Kühen besonders gut schmeckt." - zumursprung

Translation: " Up on the steep alpine slopes, the meadows can only be harvested by hand - therefore a great natural diversity of medicinal wild herbs and flowers can still be found there. The mountain farmer Maria Berger of Murau, Austria, not only knows how to mow these meadows with a scythe, but also the best time of year to harvest. Namely when the most volume of herbs, flowers, and grasses are growing. The hay from this first cutting, tastes especially good to her cows."

Here in the USA, another farmer has had the insight that mature grass may be better for cows than the young, high protein grass. Our own modern-day folk hero, Joel Salatin, writes in an article for Acres USA called  Tall Grass Mob Stocking , "Prepare to be shocked. Most of us controlled grazing aficionados have been grazing when the forage is too short!" He goes on to say that the more mature grass has more carbohydrates, which is good for ruminant digestion. I've asked local organic dairy people about this, and they point out that Salatin raises beef cows. For maximum milk production, they say you need the younger grass for more protein. (I don't have cows, so I can't say, but could there be a difference between maximum milk production, vs. optimum milk quality? Much of our modern food system is based on maximum volume for cheapest selling price, rather than optimum nutritional quality for our health.) Salatin also mentions the nutritional benefits of a diverse pasture with herbs growing in it. "Salad Bar Beef", he calls it. Things to ponder for the upcoming haying season.

I sometimes peen scythe blades for local scythe people that don't want to peen their own. I see a lot of damaged edges doing this. Most damage occurs when the blade is dull and the owner compensates for that by swinging harder and chopping at the grass. The leverage on the tip of the blade from this force, often pushes the tang to the back of the ring, which opens up the tang angle all the way, and then the full force of the blow hits the edge of the blade straight on, instead of the acute shearing angle it was meant to. If the edge hits a rock straight on like this, you can cause considerable damage, as shown in the picture above. If you keep mowing with this kind of a crack, the crack can snag on an object, and cause even greater damage.

I, of course, keep my own blade sharp and mow at the proper angle. I also mow with a very light and responsive touch, and if my blade catches on something, I can instantly "cut the power", and minimize the damage. My edges are also surprisingly tough because of my peening method. People that have tried peening free-hand with Peter Vido's method are amazed at how tough (and sharp!) my method gets their edges. Even so, even I still occasionally hit rocks and damage my blade. Usually when I'm mowing new areas that I haven't mown before and cleared of rocks, or in my grain field that I had plowed once. I live in glacial till country, and the rocks are still coming up with the frost. I remember one rock in particular. A jagged piece of white quartz, the size of a tennisball completely hidden under some mature bluegrass that was laying over it. I still cringe when I think about it. Yet the damage to my blade wasn't as bad as the damage on the blade in the photo above. Even this damage can be repaired, however, and here's how:

Prerequisite reading for those of you who are going, or for info for those of you who can't: Sepp Holzer's Permaculture http://www.amazon.com/dp/160358370X/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_3NTJpb0XV3WCJ

Also see the DVD's available at http://www.perma-dise.com/products

It has been suggested that I publish my 14 page peening manual, so that it could be reviewed. Well it is copyrighted, and I consider it desktop published, and a lot of people have them now. So if you are reading this post, and you have read my manual, please comment on it below. I was going for "crystal clear" step-by-step instructions, accompanied by macro photos, and links to my YouTube videos that illustrate the motions. If you have read it, please let me know how I did.

In 2006, I attended the International Scythe Symposium in Canada. Up until then, I had been using a peening jig. At the Symposium, I was blown away by what a freehand peened blade could do. There was no going back to a peening jig for me after that. I tried hard to learn how to peen at the Symposium. I learned about 6 different methods, at the Symposium, and it boggled my mind for quite some time. I turned to a book in German on peening called Dengeln by Bernhard Lehnert, for clarification. To my surprise it presented yet another method. From what I hear, Lehnert learned of his method from an old German text.I began to experiment with everything that I'd learned, and immediately realized how inadequate the Czech hammer and anvil I was using was. When Peter Vido imported some Picard anvils and hammers for me, I was in heaven. What a difference! After experimenting with all I had learned, I eventually synthesized all the best aspects into one method. It has some new elements that I wanted some peer review by, so I taught it to Neil Dudman of the Czech Republic, and to Harvard educated engineer Keith Claverie in Tennessee. Keith was at the Symposium with me, and asked all the good technical questions of the instructors there, that I wouldn't have thought of on my own probably, and added a lot to my body of knowledge. I sent both Neil and Keith a Picard hammer, and one of my antique Pennsylvania tall anvils (dengelstocks), and my peening instructions, and asked for their feedback. Neil was very enthusiastic about the new method, and started making his own peening videos for it. Keith promptly cut his thumb after testing the blade that he had peened following my instructions. "That's sharp!", was his opinion.

Baby, it was cold outside! 15 degrees F and breezy! Hence my yeti hat. The snow at the base of the grass, had fallen as wet snow on a warmer day, so it had frozen to be quite firm, and added a lot more resistance to each scythe stroke. So at 2:38 you can see how I really have to put my weight into each stroke. It was also too cold for a wet whetstone, so I just used it dry, to hone the blade. I use the dry grass for straw bedding in my goose house.

_I harvest my reed canary grass in late fall, or early winter, to use as straw bedding for my geese. As long as the grass is still standing upright, and the snow is not too deep, you can still mow it with a scythe, even in winter. The DNR hates reed canary grass because it becomes a naturally dominant monoculture. This is great for a small farmer that needs some straw, however. By late fall, this grass is a totally dry, and seed-free, mono-crop, that is ready to harvest and ready to use. The straw bedding makes my geese feel like they are in their natural habitat. I write more about how I harvest this grass at http://onescytherevolution.com/1/post/2009/11/reed-canary-grass.html

Notes on mowing: At 0:49 I try to mow as slowly as possible, so you guys can see how blade cuts the grass. Otherwise it just looks like I am just whisking the grass to the side. At 1:22 I resume a comfortable pace using the Advanced Field Mowing Technique, (i.e. using a weight-shift to the left as a springboard for the mowing action.) Tremendous Tai-Chi like power can be generated this way. The reed canary grass has thick stems, and would be a lot of work to mow with just your arms. For mowing instruction see http://onescytherevolution.com/mowing.html