Great to see others that understand the land and sky and body. Best wishes, Mr. Brown

You made an outstanding sensible video. For hundreds of years this was the way - now as you say we rely on chemicals and other junk. VERY well done and I appreciate your take on things!

Makes amazing food for rabbits, chickens, and goats that is free! :D Love it.

That's a gorgeous blade. Love it! Great vid.

Thanks for the video, Julieanne. A good, quality scythe is on my list of items to purchase after our move, next spring. It looks relaxing to me. ~Mickie

In permaculture they have a succinct term for the soil building technique you used-- "chop and drop."

Scything is very relaxing once you get into the rythm.

You make it look so easy! I used to watch my Granddad scythe the fields when I was a little girl. A scythe is on my "wish list", but I am a bit on the short side, so I fear it will have to be custom made. Thanks for the demo!! ~Kitty

Great vid, thank you! My father came from an old farming family, and they used scythes often. I was taught (and it works well) to swing the scythe by rotating your waist, instead of your arms. Move your arms less, and use the larger muscles of your waist. It's easier, and a blade parallel with the ground - will cut more evenly. The angle of the snath doesn't change during the arc of the swing. Try it, you'll like it!

I'm on all clay and knew there was a better way then buying topsoil that was probably void of life. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING HOPE and a time frame!!

German scyther here, I learned it from my grandfather and do teach it now to my son. It is so satisfying to practice this old craftmanship. There are still great scythes over here on the old continent, Schröckenfux for example in Austria, really premium stuff. Your blade is more a brush blade. It is short and thick, and it is heavy, unneceserially in my opinion for your use. A true gras blade would be thinner, longer and lighter, more effective though. If your scythe is set accurately for you, you should not have to raise it from the ground, like you do on the turning point of your swing. The back end of the blide just slides softly over the ground, no upswing necessary, and you are stepping half a foot forward after every swing. How do you dangle? To keep a blade reeeeeally sharp, you must dangle it, otherwise you will not be able to keep it razorsharp forever, so the result will not be great and you will need more strength to do it. Grind it slightly every 5 to 10 minutes, and dangle it once or twice a day, so the blade will keep a long scalpel and will hold a lifetime. By dangling you are even making the blade harder, cold-hammer-forged if you might say. You will not waste it, you will make it sharper and more resistant. Dangling is not easy and needs a lot of experience and skill for sure. Well, there are some dangling machines out there which are all crap more or less. For non-skilled beginners I would highly recommend the "hit-dangler" from Schröckenfux. It is easy to use for anyone and the results are very evenly, can´t get much better in my opinion. I use it still every second time or so to keep my blade straight. This is it: "Schröckenfux Schlagdengelapparat, komplett - 52x112 mm" kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gd2UlaZ4l9bUmGQ.html Well, the shells are now coloured red and yellow, but it is the same stuff. How is it going for you?

Very pleasant video, clever speech and beautiful hair. :)

I really like what you are talking @ 7:50 about the plants telling you what is going on with the soil. And 9:30, when you describe 'carbon farming'. Good stuff

I share your enthusiasm for the scythe - one of the greatest of all tools. Simple but effective. Every time the grass decays you are also adding Carbon to the soil, another big plus.

That's a pretty amazing transformation you made in your pasture! Last year I was given an antique scythe that needs a little tlc. I'm looking forward to fixing it up and giving it a try. While you were stoning the blade I couldn't help imagining myself nicking my knuckles on the blade. I would have loved to seen your take on the peening process.

You make it look so easy, but the is quite a morning workout!! It looks awesome.

Lovely video, this is my first time to see this tool being use and I love it. You have some great helpers there... ;) thanks for sharing the video and God bless!!

My grandfather would give us a bucket a piece and have us gather rocks out of the field. He would pay us a penny per rock. He would have a sample size rocks we were to get set on a table. Just something to give your girls to do. lol He would get the big rocks we could not get. He used these rocks as ditch lining and irrigation lining........ another idea for you.

How simple to save the world. If we could only see. Thanks for this beautiful example.

Thanks so much for the link to the scythe source. We have an antique one (basically decoration) but I'd like a new, functional one at some point. Now, did you broadcast alfalfa / grass seed at some point in the process or it came in on it's own from what was there already? I brush hog our pasture a few times a season but that hasn't increased the "good" plants more than the weeds I'm afraid. I wonder why scything is different?

Very informative, great video. I have been considering investing in a scythe for work in our pasture and swales on our place, this makes me want one even more.

Great video, I'll be keeping an eye out for one.

At this point we do not have enough land to need this but all the more reason I want to get more. I would love to be able to use a sythe, the natural movement of this exercise is clearly beneficial. Excellent info on the weeds too!

Mowing without gasoline and a noisy, smoking mower... Nice!

We have the same problem where we are going to put our garden. we have a lot of work to do on the soil before next spring so that we can plant our garden.

just got my first scythe. I love this idea. Great job and I love that blade

A great way to do that, good job. If you can , find yourself a set of diamond harrows to drag behind your tractor or light truck in the fall and spring. It will help keep your pasture from getting root bound. Good vid, take care.

Scything is something John is looking forward to learning.

Cute and Sarcastic. Those girls are lucky to have such an awesome mom.

Bought one last year. played with it..... :) .....yup....I got a lot to learn lol. But I'm motivated to try again. maybe I will practice a bunch then Jeni and I can test ouselves on the small wheat patch we have (50 x 50). - Mike

Awesome video. Love that scythe, I am looking forward to getting one to use as I build up some pasture paddocks on my new 40 acres of raw land in Eastern WA. Some great tips on scything and the benefits of them. BTW your daughter was adorable in this :) Right now though I am looking at the STIHL Kombi for the ability it has for multiple head attachments, mainly looking at powered pole saw and hedge trimmer. Though will also likely get the string trimmer and brush trimmer attachments. I need to do some clearing back of the road as well as just clearing some undergrowth in the forest and trimming off the dead branches of the trees to decrease fire risk. While I much prefer not using power tools, the amount (the place has not really been touched since it was logged in 1987) of cutting back and trimming really warrants the use of them this first year to get to the point where I can scale back to the hand tools in the future. Hopefully I will end up selling off the power tools at some point and be able to stick with the hand tools. Just recently picked up 4 cross cut saws blades at an estate sale. They had a rack of about 20-30 blades, took a lot of will power not to buy a lot more. While I am looking forward to hearing them singing through the wood, I have enough trees that need felling I will likely end up doing some chainsaw work too just to make enough progress this first year to feel like the property has some fire breaks and the dead standing wood out.

Truly old school =) I have one, but don't use it much because around here that would be all I doing each day. You are right on about using organic matter to build your soil. I was shocked at the price. The one I have I picked up at a farm auction for $15.00. I had to sharpen it but it works great.

Another excellent video. What a simple way to counter act a rough terrain.

Looks like fun.

Where do you find those huge white plastic containers that you use for housing your critters? I have never seen anything like that. Great idea. I love how you use whatever you have and are so clever with figuring things out. Good on ya!!

I just found your channel and I’m loving it. How encouraging it is for me to know that you were able to transform your field; it gives me great hope, as I need to do the same on mine !! I wonder if you could advise me as to how to eradicate the wild raspberries that pop up in random spots??

Great information, I never thought about it as different weeds coming in as the soil changes but in reality that's what happens. Thanks. something else to think on.

Nice job, I love scything, The swishing of the blade, the sound of the cut. There is something rewarding and maybe a bit romantic in the process. It is a lost art. I have seen some old timers who can do a better job with a fine grass bladed scythe then folks can with a modern mower. They also work very well in harvesting patches of grains like oats and Barley. I have even used a scythe to harvest my field corn. But that takes a heavy brush blade, a lot heavier then your light bush blade like you are using and a strong back. After cutting them you stack them and stand them in shocks to dry. I see you use a whetstone, do you also "Peen" the blade to feather out more material? This process causes the metal to flake some and creates tiny fractures in the leading edge. this is what gives the blade its cutting ability sort of a million small serrations. I think the goats prefer the weeds and browse and not the grasses. Once the grasses take over from the weeds as the soils improve its time to switch to sheep, cattle or horses to make use of the grasses. even rabbits or poultry will mow that grass and the added benefits of the livestock doing the work is the fertilizer they add naturally.

You are so beautiful, Julianne! I enjoy your videos immensely. This one gives me great motivation to scythe our back 40 that has been overgrown for multiple years.

"When we changed the environment, the weed changed." PURE GOLD

This is brilliant.

Right on. My front yard getting richer &richer soil using this method. Warning; i have dscided thscythe in these will certainly be mine. It shall be shipped 2me fedex.

Good work, keep it up,mate.

I am learning to scythe. Great video. Any reference to buy the equipment would be appreciated.

Loved the video, , I bet it felt good to look back at all the work you accomplished! What are your daytime temps out there? I see you are still wearing warm clothes and we are in shorts and sweatbands in the Midwest.:)

looking like an amazing core muscle exercise. :)

Very cool , great vid, great advice.

Love the instructions regarding a scythe thank you. I have one on order:) Please tell where I can find that beautiful song that starts at 11.26 in you video. I have found the rapper version but yours is beautiful. thanks for a great video

Wow. This gives me hope, as my garden is rough and patchy, but I don't have your problem with rocks. I do live in a dryer area though (Southern California) so maybe the creation of topsoil will take longer.

Pure Beauty!

I mow my small yard with a weed wacker. This looks faster and better than what i got.

You have literally reversed what almost all farmers have been doing forever. It's inspiring to see. All these farms you see, with their stacks of rocks, or rocks all OVER their fields; I once helped a farmer pick rocks from his field for TWO days, and he told me this was an annual chore. By stacking that scythed organic matter on your rocks, you are reversing the tilling damage that made the soil disappear in the first place!

I love this video, but I do have to say, for anyone with injuries, disabilities, or the elderly who might not be able to use this method, you can still achieve this same effect with a lawn mower. Ride on or push lawn mower just leave the bag off and allow the clippings to remain in place to create top soil over time.

Hmmm.. . . I went to the scytheconnection site and couldn't find any scythes for sale, just articles (which looked interesting, but I was expecting to find models for sale).

Do you know how long the blade is ? I really like this idea.

10:29 Lol. I actually expected to see the goat jump, till you finished that sentence! To be fair, she did stop chewing for a second.

Wow you are awesome! How do you keep up with everything?

I love scything in the morning.

How often do you have to sharpen it....? I have a scythe in the garage, honestly never used it...

Please tell where I can find that beautiful song that starts at 11.26 in you video. txs

I use mine to mow down cattails. works great for that.

Hi...I am from sunny South Africa. I came across your channel and luv it. I grew up close to the city...were ppl dont do these sort of things . We too dependent on gardeners to make things look beautiful. Were I live the climate it hot and humid...we not far from the ocean.We have a fair amont of rain a year but have recently had bouts of drought. I need some advice regarding my planter beds. I had some goats 4 about 2 weeks for our sacrifice. They killed my grass but the hay we fed them has started to rot mixed with their poop. Can I use this to layer my planter beds, then top with potting soil. I plan to plant spinach, herbs and strawberrys in my beds. I notticed some magots in the hay mess will this affect my plants? Thank you

I know this is an old video. But I like it when you do videos outside and farming. So did you move to a smaller house? Because when you were getting ready for chickens you said you had a small backyards and neighbors.

I like it

The rocks probably accelerated the process a little bit by protecting soil bacteria under and around them to quickly replenish the soil. In commercial lawn spraying in Florida I use a moisture management compound to maintain that same minimum moisture level (and it's lightly sticky to the decayed biomass). If you don't have this bacteria you simply won't recover topsoil - atmosphere and rain will decay the mass and the leftover will filter down through the soil by channeling to the hard-pan. Doesn't matter the tech level you use, no retained mass = no topsoil. Grass will deplete it.

What time of year do you do this and do you over seed spring or fall?

How did you sow your alfalfa? I’ve been wanting to do the same.

I love it. My idea of maintaining

I have one, way to go

Ya know why they call it a scythe ? way back when they tell the kids to cut the grass they would scythe !

I want one!

Great video - now I think that I need a scythe. Looked at several at antique stores this weekend - none as nice as yours :-) w

Why can't I find one at my local big box home improvement store?

Could you tell me the make of the whetstone pouch you have please as I’ve never seen one that holds water.

Great Video 👌, what blade are you using please ?

Heaven indeed. Reminds me of area code 406.

I love these videos. I own 17 acres in Michigan and its all established native grass in a sandy soil. Im going to start working the land this spring and i just want to do it natural. I remember talking to a guy at my paint and supply store that owns a farm. He told me to use Round Up to kill the grass and i just thought, why would i want to put poison in the field where i plan to grow food. Any ideas on how to get rid of the grass naturally? I was just planning on digging it up and trying to sift any soil stuck to the roots with a vibrating screen or perhaps washing it out with water as well. I don't want to use to much fossil fuel or other carbon laden energies though. The scythe is really cool too btw

Lovely!! What length is your scythe blade? Was it purchased from Austria? Excellent instruction!!💜🥰

The environment looks different, but I do remember you did a video about moving tho.

Great outfit...not what you would envision someone wearing to scythe!

You make me want to get a scythe and I still live in the suburbs!

Stupid question - why not remove the rocks?

Keep the blade on the ground. Right to left, always on the ground. :)

nice job,

When I saw this video I noticed that it was made on 2016, I noticed how healthy your grass was at that moment. I wonder how it would like now. Do you have an update? Thanks for the video.

Queen

Where can i purchase that blade and handle?

Sounds like great exersize,,,

I was born in Brazil, but I live here in USA-FLORIDA-west palm beach. I saw a video of you using a manual lawn mower, (GRIM REAPER FARM), I used this instrument a lot on Brsail. But I would like to buy here in the USA. Could you tell me where can I buy ???? I am grateful if you can help me.

Not supposed to lift the scythe off the ground. It must remain in contact with the earth at all times. In point of fact, the best instructors on the scythe direct their students to apply slight pressure un the cut stroke and glide back to start position. Properly adjusted the heel of the blade glides one the ground so you never have to lift the scythe.

I'm quite interested in the difference in what I see around me all the time and what I see in the US - here in England, the stones would have been cleared from the land and used to make a dry stone wall. Perhaps that needs generations of families with 10-15 kids to provide that kind of back-breaking work, I don't know, but it makes for beautiful countryside! I wonder how the cobbles were formed - do you know? Ancient river bed, or beach?

How do I buy a scycle I went to the page but found no link to buy anything ?😱

My father actually he have to of them & really enjoy when you use it but you have to be very careful

go around and Rake or pick those ROCKs out of the soil and after a few times they will ALL be gone and You can swing with NO More problems. GREAT Video AND YOU are Gorgous !!!

They don't make scythe blades anymore?

We In Tn, Call It A Sickle.

Do you have a preference for the European style scythe blade over an American style with harder steel? Just a curiosity question. Nice video!

Where can i buy one like yours?

Where'd you get the scythe? Been wanting one for awhile now.

Why aren't you clearing the larger rocks? Are you ever planning to grow crops on your land? My ancestors, yes even my parents and my husband and I have cleared land. Shows the different ways folks garden in different parts of America. Are you going to do the row, no plowing garden? Won't you still need to prepare your land and remove the rocks? Does your land flood like many of the other homesteads on KZfaq?