Page 32 - aruba-today-20180620

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 20 June 2018
An ancient way to cut grass, scything's also a state of mind

By CAIN BURDEAU — and the experience was
CONTRADA PETRARO, Sicily excruciating. I suffer from
(AP) — Spring is ending and allergies, and after scyth-
summer approaches. The ing for a few hours I'd re-
grass is now long, finished turn to our little farmhouse
growing. For us, it's time to drenched in sweat and
scythe. with stinging rashes and
This is a beautiful, and welts on my calves and
slightly sad, time of year for arms. My nose ran without
my wife and me, when the pause, my throat felt like a
fields of grass and flowers sandpaper rattle and my
on our 3 acres of farmland eyes were blurry from tears.
in the mountains of north- The same happened this
ern Sicily must be cut. We May when I attempted to
would prefer to let them cut. But then I realized that
live on: There are deep pink the grass didn't need to
French honeysuckles, pur- be cut in May. In fact, it is
ple thistles, yellow dande- better, local agronomist
lions, pale pink and white and naturalist Giuseppe
acanthus, and wispy and Piro told me, to wait until
lazy grasses. grasses have reached their
But that's not prudent in maximum growth.
the dry Mediterranean This June 8, 2018 photo shows writer Cain Burdeau using a scythe to cut the grass on a property in Piro showed me an old
summer, when fires are an Contrada Petraro near Castelbuono, Sicily. scythe among the rusty
annual threat and long Associated Press tools on a property where
grasses fuel flames. The he makes olive oil with his
idea of our olive, almond, "cleaning up" our land "But it's not as efficient really store in nearby Castelbu- son. He took the scythe in his
ash and fruit trees — not to — and we do it the old- because you have to get ono. I am also using a pair hands and demonstrated
mention a hundred grape fashioned way. I chose your machine fixed all the of long clippers for cutting how old-timers used them,
vines I planted this spring to scythe because that's time; you've got to buy gas around trees and rocks. in particular in the higher
— catching fire is a ghastly how my father, Bob Bur- and additives for the gas," When I told Giovanni Spal- mountains where vast fields
one. deau, has been cutting his he said. "But the sensation is lina, who runs an agricul- of wheat, barley and other
So, off into the fields we grass in Puglia for years. He that you're getting it done. ture shop in Castelbuono, cereals are grown. Sicily
go to scythe — an ancient swears by it, both because And when you're doing the that I used a scythe, he ap- was the breadbasket of the
method of cutting grasses he dislikes using machines scything, you're not really proved. "The work is better Roman Empire.
that few people do any- but also because there is in that same state of mind. with a scythe," he said. "It "Look at the blade," he
more here in Sicily or else- something therapeutic in You're in another state of comes out better." said. He ran his finger along
where. scything. mind." Sure enough, as we spoke, it. "Fifty centimeters. With
Landowners here have On cool spring evenings, Surprisingly, I found many a farmer showed up at his every stroke, 2 meters by 50
many ways to prevent we talked by telephone local farmers of the same busy shop, Spallina Natura, centimeters (of grass) go
fires from raging across the about the differences be- mind — even though they with a weed whacker in down."
countryside. Some use a tween scything and using a use weed whackers and need of fixing. He talked of the ancient
tractor to "pulire il terreno" weed whacker. tractors. I helped a friend This year, I've taken a dif- culture of cereal cultivation
("clean the land"). Many "With a weed whacker, cut grass in a beautiful ol- ferent approach to cutting in the mountains, where
take out weed whackers, the aim is to get the work ive orchard inside a valley grass: I decided not to pan- he worked as a boy. One
masks and gasoline cans done," my father told me. that runs into the Tyrrhenian ic about the encroaching stroke at a time, I cut. Sweat
to tackle the grasses. Old- "And you get it done as ef- Sea. sea of grasses and let them beaded on my brow. The
timers used to simply pull ficiently as possible ... Be- "This is the part of the work grow. Last year, urged by slash of the scythe was
plants out by the roots and cause you're trying to earn I hate the most. I despise locals and overwhelmed soothing. Every 10 minutes,
cut grasses by sickle and money, you're trying to do weed whackers," my friend by fast-growing grass, I I paused to sharpen the
scythe. something, and you've got said. went out scything in May, in blade and listen to sum-
This is our second year of other things to do." And sure enough it was the very heart of flowering mer's sounds.q
stressful: Both machines we
used broke down, starting
and stopping, needing a
mechanic's hand. Clothes
got ruined. We smelled of
gasoline. I had to wear a
mask, safety goggles and
ear muffs. After using a
weed whacker for a while,
your arms are numb from
the vibrations.
I have a weed whacker,
and I might buy gasoline
and raze the edges of the
property to make solid fire-
breaks.
This May 17, 2018 photo shows Giuseppe Piro, an agronomist But other than that, our This May 17, 2018 photo shows Giuseppe Piro, an agronomist
and naturalist, standing with an old scythe in Contrada Mar- grass is being cut by an and naturalist, demonstrating with his hands and arms how
catagliastro near Castelbuono, Sicily. Austrian scythe I bought farmers once used scythes to cut grasses.
Associated Press last year from a hardware Associated Press