Chad McCoy

Fred Morgan wrote:
Not sure what you mean by intensive study... I figured out how to use one in a few weekends. They say you need about a thousand swings to get good, a lot less if you work with someone who can help you understand it.

One thing that has made it hard here to get people to use it right is a lifetime of swinging a machete. A scythe cuts, a machete, whacks. Speed is critical for a machete, the angle and sharpness is everything for a scythe. I know of Ticos (what Costa Ricans call themselves) who can keep up with me with a machete. 

One can learn to swing the scythe and field *stone* more or less effectively in a few hours.  It takes considerably longer to be able to properly attach/adjust a blade to a snath... even longer to make snath better than can be purchased... even longer to peen with consistent quality.  I'd say maintaining good to great edge condition [on any edge tool] takes a lot of study and practice.  Do some timed mowing.  100 years ago expert mowers could mow 2+ acres in a day.  Tell me how much practice it takes you to mow an 8 hour acre.

My vote is for the scythe as well.  I mow about 20 acres a year and keep 2-3 acres quite lawnish (3-5 cuttings).  After 8+ years of intensive study I can mow an acre in 6-10 hours depending on conditions.

Morganic wrote:
The week includes lodging, food, and presentations. The price is $800 for camping and $875 for dorm-style lodging. 

Wow, that sounds really expensive!  Does that come with a certificate of some sort?  >$100/day for camping?!?

Ken Peavey wrote:
Cheap is a term that does not often accompany the term Good.

I second this sentiment especially w/regard to mowing.  I can only recommend two vendors: Botan Anderson @ http://onescytherevolution.com/ and the Vidos @ http://scytheworks.ca/ .  Neither of these vendors is cheap.  I mow about 20 acres a year, own >10 blades, and now make my own snaths.  The Vidos have been particularly helpful and their website http://scytheconnection.com/ is an invaluable resource for mastering the scythe.

Well I personally don't subscribe to the idea that some plants have no use.  All vigorous plants make fine mulch if that's  all you can come up with, although a scythe wielded with knowledge, love, and skill will yield mulch, increase diversity by leveling ultra-competitors,  and *weed* all to the song of your choice (one thing said three different ways still merits commas right ).  Dancing in your garden is a Good Thing (tm).

Hi Lawrence,

As you can see I've reared my ugly head again.  This time maybe the idea can get a little more flight time.

LFLondon wrote:
Use a Wiki for this instead of a relational database. Finding someone(s) to create and maintain a Guilds database
using RDB software could be expensive or very tie consuming for a volunteer, that is if you intend this resource
to be free and open to the public for usage and input.

This is the the only thing I will argue with you about and you do offer the solution.... if the content is publicly submitted then the content cost is nil.  Pcplantdb/permaculture.info was every idea in this thread and more (no one mentioned root profiles and microbes yet right?).  I'm currently trying to reconstruct everything from back then in my free time... it's going well except I have no free time.

A wiki may be an inferior platform to a true database but  it is a reasonable solution to getting information out and receiving
useful input.

Also, the Semantic Web may provide the best long term solution, possibly better than a RDB. A combination of Mediawiki and Semantic Mediawiki may be the best and certainly the cheapest and least burdensome way to go for the long haul. I have both these packages installed (courtesy of the staff of ibiblio)  at http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture. I have not started configuring the wiki yet but am moving in that direction. I intend to integrate Wordpress, BBPress and SMForums with this wiki/smw. Right now there is only a website.

In any event I would like to develop a robust guilds resource in this wiki as well as an in-depth section on permaculture design (see my next post to Permies). Another interest of mine is gathering knowledge of permaculture design and putting it out for public use as a companion to Bill Mollison's Permaculture Designers' Manual (a truly brilliant work!).

I would like to see this Guilds resource develop and plan on contributing  to it as often as possible.
I think the best approach to this proposed project is to keep it free and open to all (no anonymous input from anonymous users, though = SPAM).

LFLondon

Yeah, maybe both can work together.  Although they have differences they can interlink effectively.

I'd like to second the question.  I also have a male kiwi that hasn't flowered for two years during which at least one female has (actinidia arguta).  They are in very similar environments.  How do I make the male happy enough to flower or should I get another sort of pollinator?  Mulch with viagra?

This thread if for epiphanies. I have been doing this thing for 4 years and I think it's working!  Tell us about your success.

I'd like a more definitive answer as to what his *Russian corn*/perennial grain is botanically.  Also if he could point to a source for the seed that would be excellent.  If that happens to be your pocket, excellent as well .

Hi Richard!