Allie Green

To Matthew: The stem of the hand hold pops out of the snath and I have to reglue it. It's not a big deal - just a nuisance.

Fukuoka's little "One Straw Revolution" made a huge impression on me. But he admits that he is writing specifically about Japan with its hot humid summers. My place is Hot and Dry in the summer but I'm still mulching with straw like crazy and learning the patterns of life on this land as I go along. It is encouraging to me that it took him a good four years to get a good crop from his citrus - learning from his mistakes as I am.

I bought my first scythe from Lee Valley and I've been very happy with it. I also have a bush scythe from scythe supply and contrary to everyone else I'm not so happy with it. I find the wooden snath less comfortable and the hand holds keep popping out. I do put it to some pretty heavy work - mainly keeping blackberry thickets under control but I find it annoying that they tend to blame the customer for the hand hold problem. I prefer the aluminum snath. It's adjustable and just more comfortable for me.