Returning from our morning walk, my wife turns to me, “Pat, the field is looking seedy. Should we mow it?” “Yeah, let’s mow it,” I say, wondering if there’s enough gas. Hmmm, I think I’ll try the new EGO battery mower to see if it’ll work on the thicker grass. To my surprise it works well.
July 4th…Independence Day. Mowing thick grass with the EGO cordless electric mower. I’m not producing carbon emissions. I’M INDEPENDENT OF FOSSIL FUEL.
We usually mow the field with the big DR Brush cutter. It’s about 11 hp and uses quite a bit of gas, so I was very impressed that the EGO cordless mower could handle this thicker and taller grass.
Leave some “No Mow Zones” for the bees. Here’s some healsall plants and some yellow Bird’s Foot Trefoil.
I left some tall grass too, for the deer. I know, I know, you’re not supposed to feed the deer, but there are so many juicy temptations in the garden that they feasted on last year. In a way, I am thanking the deer for not jumping the new deer fence into the garden. Maybe it’s more of a distraction, but so far it works. We’ve been picking up the “June drop” apples along with the mountains of ripe plums and scattering them in an area where we can see them eat (outside the garden, of course.)
We fill several wheelbarrow loads. What are we using the grass clippings for, you ask? For mulch in the garden. We are coming into the dry season. We’re on a shallow well, so we try to conserve on water usage. Mulch cuts down on the need for water. I scatter the lawn clippings out in the sun. I’ll turn them tomorrow morning. It only takes a couple of sunny days to dry them out enough. (I’ve learned my lesson. Years ago I used fresh lawn clippings over newly planted potatoes. I couldn’t figure out why no potatoes were growing. Pulling up the mulch, I realized the grass had burned off the sprouts.)
With the advances in battery technology, it’s exciting to be able to do more and more things without using fossil fuels. If it’s true what most scientists are saying, then our grandchildren are facing a future of mass starvation, cities underwater, and out of control wildfires. With that being a possibility, we are very willing to reduce our carbon emissions as much as possible.
July 4…Our grandchildren.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
I often wonder how much energy goes into making the batteries in the manufacture? Although I agree that the technology is getting far better. The lawn mower is an impressive bit of kit. I wouldn’t mind one day generating some electricity ourselves, I’ll keep and eye on the Telsa Powerwall as it may be a solution for our future.
The gardens looking good Pat, and you have given me a use for some of our two year old hay that the goats won’t eat 🙂
Your comment about the hay brings back memories from when we first moved to Oregon. We had read that spoiled hay made a good mulch. We took our old pickup to look for farms where there might be old hay. I remember the surprise some of those people had when we showed up, but we got lots of hay. Haha, we used to go out on the beach to get seaweed too. That’s illegal now.
I wondered about the battery manufacturing too, but I figured it would probably compare with the refining of oil into gasoline (not exactly a scientific answer), but once the battery is made, it doesn’t produce carbon emissions like burning gasoline does. Hopefully the battery lasts a year or two.
You are way ahead of us with apples and our plums are very disappointing after our mild winter that deceived them into flowering too early. Same thing with the apricots. What source is your electricity? Over here in France it is mainly nuclear powered electricity stations which is not a source of power I favour either. You could always go back to reaping by hand but I don’t think our backs would stand that these days 🙂 Amelia
Yes, apples are coming on strong.
Most of our grid electricity comes from hydro power and the last coal plant in Oregon is being phased out. Oregon plans to be between 70 to 90% carbon-free in less than 25 years.
Reaping by hand? When I got out of the Navy, I bought a bunch of tools I thought I could use. One of those tools was a scythe. I never got the hang of that unwieldy back-straining torture device. My back couldn’t take it then and 45 years later can’t take it now. 🙂
That is great for Oregon to be harnessing hydro-electric power. Hydro and tidal sources are very under utilised. Amelia
I don’t mow our field very often as I try to keep the white and red clover in bloom for the bees. I do mow about once a month or so, but alternate areas I mow so the flowers have time to sprout. I also over seed so new plants are coming up for the bees.
We had bought bales of barley straw to use as mulch, but we ran out at about the first time we mowed the field (with the big mower). I thought, “why are we buying mulch when we could rake up the clippings?” The electric mower has a grass catcher which made it that much easier to collect without raking. Win-win. I’m mowing a little more today because all the extra bee-loving flowers need so much more water. (more mulch = less water needed)
I bet your bees love all that clover.
My bees do love all the clover. We have so many rhododendrons around here it is hell keeping my bees out of them. I have an organic dairy next door, so we do not spray or use any thing that might be non-organic.
I often bribe wildlife with treats in different places to keep them off bird feeders. Sometimes works…
I’m not above bribery. 🙂
So we are not the only ones resorting to a big DR to mow a backyard. 8) Any regular mower we have tried just couldn’t cope well with whatever tough grass infests our yard. But the EGO mower has us interested. We like their string trimmer. If you do not mind a few questions:
How long does a full charge last? Or how large an area can you cut?
Any less in hot weather? There were some reports of older models being useless in the eighties.
How high can it cut?
Thanks!
The DR serves it’s purpose, no doubt, when cutting brush, but the EGO is no slouch. It will be the mower of choice for the most of the summer. The EGO has 6 height settings, from 1.5″ to 4 inches. When I first tried the field, I set it at 4, but lowered it to 3 when I saw it worked so well. I’m afraid I didn’t time it. Everytime I took a break I plugged in the battery. Here’s a review, one of the many I looked at before I bought it. He demonstrates how long the battery lasts, but the example is one of the ‘wimpy lawn examples I was referring to. My field has some scissors grass that is really tough stuff compared to this guy’s lawn. 🙂
Thanks. We will likely be getting one soon and just use the DR to beat back the sumac and such from the trails.
Thanks for the recommendation. We got one today and it works a treat. The Mrs. is ecstatic that she can easily mow the inner part of the yard while Mr. sics the DR on the evil crown vetch, sumac, and brambles.
Last year we took turns on the big DR…because it kills our wrists when turning it. This year we take turns on the EGO battery mower because it’s fun to run. Our field and garden area have never looked better. 🙂