By Melinda Feucht, Volunteer

While the majority of farmers look for the most time-efficient, labor-saving equipment, Mystic Prairie farmer Botan Anderson chooses his based on fun.

Mystic Prairie is a 20-acre eco-farm in Wilson, WI, whose labor is mostly scythe-based in an attempt to be more self-sufficient and sustainable. Besides the noble movement towards sustainability, Mystic Prairie farmer Boton Anderson said, “One of the biggest benefits of using a scythe is that it’s fun!” He envisioned his farm after seeing a cable gardening show where the host demonstrated how to use an Austrian scythe. This show, coupled with his involvement with a Minneapolis gardening club that was learning about Ruth Stout gardening at the time, helped him conceptualize his farm that he would soon acquire in 2000.

A scythe is a tool used for cutting crops such as grass or wheat, with a long curved harvesting blade at the end of a long pole that has one or two short handles. This type requires rapid movement, but not a lot of strength. Anderson uses the Austrian scythe to harvest hay and bedding for their organic ducks and geese, mulch for their gardens, weed control, and an ecological alternative to lawn mowers. Even though gas and exhaust fumes are nonexistent with this equipment, it is very labor-intensive, yet a very sustainable alternative method of harvesting. The Austrian scythe differs greatly from the traditional American scythe because of its lighter weight, workability, and razor sharp blades. Anderson said the misconception that scythes are heavy is what keeps people from using them.

Mystic Prairie has an on-farm scythe shop, where they import high-quality scythes from Canada and Austria. Education and awareness about scythes is very important to them. They teach mowing, peening, and haying workshops at their farm and in surrounding areas, where they provide a hands-on learning experience. Anderson said the attendance for the workshops have been booming as he has been receiving 2 or 3 calls a day from people requesting information. Mystic Prairie Farm mail orders both their duck eggs and scythes all over the U.S.

When starting the farm, Anderson also added ducks to the mix, whose eggs were not intended for market, rather to sustain only the family. Anderson soon found himself surprised. He chose Welsh Harlequin ducks solely because it best suited the needs of having a family garden. It turned out that there were only 188 Welsh Harlequin ducks in the country, and Mystic Prairie housed the original farm stock from the country they came from. Because the ducks were so rare, they decided to breed them, resulting in them having more eggs than their family could consume. So they decided to go to market.

Anderson said duck eggs have become increasingly popular because they are richer in flavor and have more nutrition- twice the Vitamin A, fives times Vitamin B-12, and seven times Vitamin D. Because their ducks are fed a soy-free feed that includes flax seeds, sprouted grains, the eggs also provide a lot of beta-carotene and Omega 3’s. The yolks are also famous for baking as they act as a leavener when whipped.  Although scrambling duck eggs is quite different than chicken eggs because of the dense yolk, adding an extra egg white and water will give you similar results.

You can see Botan Anderson demonstrate mowing with a scythe here.