Baggywrinkle

I read somewhere about somebodies multi-generational
family farm. In the barn was a hoe that had seen duty
through three generations. It was worn down to a nub...
They had hoed this entire eighty acres of row crops for cultivation by hand...

I'm not suggesting that hard work become a religion.
Some of the old ways are dead and gone - good riddance.
But some of the old ways are elegant and
have not been improved on by "modern" technology.
If you do not know they exist you cannot use them when
you need them. If your combine does not work for lack
of parts what are your options to harvest the corn, a corn
knife and your two feet? What if you never heard about a
corn knife, what will you do then? Pull the corn all by hand?

Gene Logsdon didn't use a flail in his book about growing
your back yard wheat. He used his son's plastic baseball bat.
Another small holder uses his feet. These problems
have already been solved! Rather than tossing your wheat into the air
for the winnowing you might be very happy to build or buy a
fan mill if you can find one.

All scythes are not created equal ( so I am told).
The American scythe used by your grand fathers had a nickname.
It was called a misery whip! In contrast, the european scythe is a joy to use.
The american scythe is heavy and sharpened with a grind stone.
The european scythe is feather light and sharpened by peening.
That is also how it is made.
Talk about dying art! The european blade is only made
in a small area of eastern europe where they are still made by
black smiths using techniques which are centuries old! These blades are
works of art - each hand
made!

Thank heaven they are still there! This is a perfected technology.
If you think spending a day scything is bad what might doing the same task
stooped over with a grass sickle (if you have one) or some other less desirable
cutting instrument might be like. Talk about
misery whip!

Take Dilbert out of his office cubicle and set him in a field
with a knife "borrowed" from the kitchen. How long will he last?
How many times will he reinvent the wheel before he gets to the
point of working back up to the misery whip? If he lives so long!

Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it!
Up close and personal.

The collapse is happening folks. How far will we fall before it is over?
How deep is the abyss? Third world
is still light years away from stone age. That steel hoe
might look pretty high tech next to a deer horn hoe
such as was used by Buffalo Bird Woman only one
hundred years ago. Hate to break it to you, but you are
only a factory closure away from being back to that point!

WAKE UP!