Gardening in Europe

Our house came with a little backyard which we have exclusive access to, since we occupy the lower 2 floors of the house. We love it. It's private and the kids can go outside to play any time. 

However, with exclusive access comes the responsibility for yard upkeep. Which isn't our strong suit. In fact, we really dislike yard work.  

This wasn't a problem in the winter.  We moved into the house in November after the weather had turned cold and the grass didn't start growing until recently.  And with all of the rain that we get, it's grown long quickly.  

The yard really isn't big enough to need a mower, so we'll probably end up using a weed eater. In the meantime, though, the house came with a SCYTHE! A what? Oh you know, just one of those sharp blades that you swing at the grass to cut it by hand. Doesn't the grim reaper hold a scythe too? I can't remember, but I am pretty sure he holds a sharp blade. 

Yes, that thing came with the yard.  As if we would know what to do with it.

This was the first time I had ever seen one in person and really had no intention of using it. But the kids were bored (don't so many adventures start with that?) and since the yard is starting to look pretty bad, I decided to try it out with them and document our efforts. 

[Can you tell Matthew's been gone a lot lately??]

Just me & my scythe.  Note the long grass.

You're supposed to swing it, right?  Nope! According to the youtube video instructions I found, this is not the way to cut your grass.

Jackson demonstrates correct usage. He was actually much better at it than I was. Maybe due to his angle?

Our scythe is not very sharp, so it really didn't do much other than flatten the grass.

Brandtley tries his hand.  Kindof hard when the thing is so much bigger than you are. He resorted to just dragging it behind him as he walked around the yard. 

(The kid was feeling very European today and dressed himself in his skinny gray jeans paired with a gray shirt.)

Ultimately, our grass is no shorter. Some patches were pulled out in the process. And it was well flattened.  

But! I have found a solution for the weeds growing through our paver stone patio! While walking through the botanical gardens with a friend, we saw a man igniting what appeared to be a lawn mower with a propane tank strapped on. Intrigued, we stopped to watch and take pictures. He found this really weird, but it's completely normal to want to take pics when you see a man lighting what appears to be a jet-propelled lawn mower, right?

Turns out, there were little flames under the front hood which burn all of the weeds & debris on the gravel path as he pushed it.  Much more effective than weed killer and more environmentally friendly.  Do they have these in the US??  (It's very possible that these are prolific and you each own one and I have just missed them due to lack of interest in anything yard-work related). 

Can I get the kids one of these for Christmas??