Zoe Piel

r ranson wrote:Great suggestion.

I find early morning mowing before chores or sunrise works well.  But we get morning dew here.

One thing I was worried about is a spark. We have a rocky area I want to chop and drop, but it got too dry and I don't know if sparks are a possibility with a scythe.  We are on the no-mower stage of summer drought because if a blade hits a rock, the grass will ignite so fast.  I was hoping a scythe would have less risk.

It's the rare rock that makes a good enough spark to catch fire. Starting a fire with flint and steel is difficult to do on purpose, let alone by accident of a stray scythe blade.

It's been quite some time since we got a good rain in my area. It's also been deadly hot, and I haven't been keeping up on mowing too well this summer. Now I go to mow with my grass blade and find I can't get much purchase on the dry grass. It's mostly green foxtail (with thick, horsey stems) and bermuda grass (with dry, crispy thatch underneath).

Any tips for dealing with dry dry dry grass?

I'm trying to catalog all the plants that are popping up in and around my yard (Zone 5, New England). Some of them are wild and some are remnants of things previous occupants cultivated. There is a decent patch of these leafy plants in a shaded area (see attached).

They look very lettuce-like and I hope they're edible.