UK Nature and Environment

379 readers

60 users here now

General Instance Rules:

No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia.
No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies.
No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users.
Do not share intentionally false or misleading information.
Do not spam or abuse network features.

Community Specific Rules:

Keep posts UK-specific. There are other places on Lemmy to post articles which relate to global environmental issues (e.g. slrpnk.net).
Keep comments in English so that they can be appropriately moderated.

Note: Our temporary logo is from The Wildlife Trusts. We are not officially associated with them.

Our autumn banner is a shot of maple leaves by Hossenfeffer.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

Kim@feddit.uk

GreyShuck@feddit.uk

Norfolk Wildlife Trust looks at the ancient art of scything (www.edp24.co.uk)

submitted 3 months ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/nature@feddit.uk

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The sounds and smells of a scythe cut meadow are wonderful, explains Norfolk Wildlife Trust Reserves Officer Robert Morgan.

As I have commented before, meadows are in depressingly short supply, so Norfolk Wildlife Trust has been appealing this summer for support in improving and increasing wildflower meadows in our county.

Understandably modernised farming no longer required them for animal fodder, and most were ploughed out within a generation.

Excluding a few rare exceptions, it is fair to say we lost virtually all of them.

In recent years NWT has been working with landowners, both farmers and parish councils, to return wildflower meadows to our countryside.

top 4 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I want to try scything, but don't really fancy swinging a razor sharp blade at ankle height

[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Yeah, prob best to ask others to stand back!

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 2 points 3 months ago

It was one of the first conservation tasks that I ever did - also in Norfolk, as it happens.

There is a knack to it and there certainly are safety considerations - especially around sharpening them - but you really have to be doing something profoundly wrong to get anywhere near your own ankles.

It is very satisfying once you get the hang of it though.

[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

Scything is good exercise, causes no air or sound pollution and scythes are orders of magnitude easier to maintain, store and maneuvre than mowers. Moving more slowly also gives wildlife more time to be noticed or to move to safety as well. You do need a lot of manpower to cover a large area though!