What? Mowing the lawn? Yep. You read that right. In my latest book, I’ve got six upper class Englishmen in a nothing of a town in the Montana Territory doing manual labor. In this case, they’re using a sickle bar horse drawn mower to cut the grass between rows of apple trees. The eldest brother is the future Viscount of Darlington and none of these gents have done a hard day’s work in their lives. But enough of that, once I started researching sickle bar mowers, I went down a rabbit hole into mowerdom, and crawled back out with a history lesson. Ah, the writing life!
Did you know that lawns have quite the history? George Washington had a lawn, as did Thomas Jefferson. How do we know? A guy named Ted Steinberg. He’s a professor at Case Western Reserve University. Ted wrote a book called Obsessive Green. Yeah, it’s all about lawns and its sub-title says it all: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. Who knew grass was such a big deal back in the day? At first, it was the wealthy that had lawns. In fact, it wasn’t until 1870 that lawns became part of a town’s development. This meant you had to have a way to take care of that lawn and voila, the lawnmower was born.
A good thing too, there are a lot of lawns to mow! The United States alone has around sixty-five thousand square miles of lawn. That’s roughly the size of Florida! The sickle bar mower had been around since the civil war and was used to cut hay or tall grasses that needed to be kept down. After the war they became more popular and once having a lawn became fashionable, different makers of sickle bar mowers came up with smaller versions for lawn care.
Never underestimate the power of the lawn mower. My brother and sister in-law recently bought a house. While house shopping, they narrowed their choices down to two homes. Both had everything they wanted. One, closer to my own house, came with a peacock named Jerry. The other, closer to our older sister’s place, came with a riding John Deere lawn mower. Guess which one they bought? Sorry Jerry!
So we’ve come a long way from horse drawn mowers to riding lawn mowers. Right after my brother and sister in-law bought their new house, he went to Alaska for six weeks (he takes folks out fishing for a living. It’s a rough job but someone has to do it) and my sister in-law wound up having to mow while he was gone. She’s discovered she likes listening to music while mowing, and has taken over the lawnmower. Joe, you should have bought the house that came with Jerry! You’ll never get to mow now!
Well, I finally got back to writing my book, including the scenes with my English gentlemen being shown by a farmer how to use his sickle bar mower. I myself have never used a riding lawnmower. There are step inclines on my place that need to be mowed and I fully admit to being a chicken. I’d rather use a regular push mower to do it than careen down hill toward the creek that runs in front of my house. So, when it comes to mowing, which do you prefer? A riding lawn mower, a horse drawn mower, or a push mower? I’ll pick one person from the comments below to receive a free e-copy of my upcoming book, Courting the Rancher.
Here’s a little more about the book:
Letty Henderson wasn’t looking for love. She was looking for more people to sell her milk and beef to. After a tragedy took the lives of her father and brother, it’s all she can do to keep her little ranch running. And she wasn’t the only one. The same tragedy took the lives of an entire posse, and with a town population of less than thirty, that’s a lot. So is it any wonder when six English gents pass through and offer assistance, that her head is turned in their direction? Can she stop staring at the oldest long enough to tell him what sort of help she needs? Unfortunately, the kind of help the town really needs no one can give. Or can they? Toss in an unlikely matchmaker and find out in this hilarious new series that delivers pure fun and romance!
USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!
Unfortunately I usually disappear when the lawn is mowed as I have allergies.
I hear you there. My allergies have gotten worse over the years so I don’t mow as much. I have my nephew do it!
Riding mower all the way!
When I don’t feel like I’m mowing the Alps, I’ll use the riding lawn mower, lol!
I too have never used a riding mower only a push and then when I’m desperate. One of my many allergies is grass.
Yep, I can sympathize with you, Kari!
Push mower. Our lawn is small.
For a long time I was using a simple push mower. No engine, nothing. I found I really enjoyed it.
none
None is good. Makes me want to buy a condo so there’s no yard work at all to do!
We have both a push and a riding mower. We have a little over an acre of lawn to mow and at our age, the riding mower is a necessity. I have never used the riding mower and can’t remember using the push mower. There are sections around the house and near fencing that need to be done with the push mower. Our lawn is not level or smooth. I think at one time it was part of a cow pasture. It makes for a slightly bumpy ride. As a teen, I did occasionally mow the lawn at our house. With 6 children, the job fell to whomever was told to do it at the time. Back then it was the old style push mower with the cylinder style rotating blades powered by muscle power. I don’t remember our family ever having a gas powered mower.
I love the old style push mowers Patricia. And surprise, surprise, they still sell them!
I’d love to have a riding mower!
They’re nice if you have a lot of lawn to mow, that’s for sure.
Wow, that’s some cool history! I had to do the lawn when I was a kid and we had a tiny rider mower. I was thankful for that since we had a huge lawn around the farm. I couldn’t imagine doing it on a push!
When we had an old fashioned push mower, our dad used to refer to mowing the lawn as lawn aerobics!
Would you believe I’ve never had to mow the lawn? With having a dad and two brothers, plus a husband and three sons, there’s never been a need. We have a push mower.
Your book sounds lovely. Thanks for the history lesson.
Denise, you’ve been lucky! But it is, in its way, relaxing if you’re using an old fashioned push mower with the rotating blades.
Oh my goodness, Kit. Your story about the peacock vs. the lawn mower cracked me up! How could they not choose Jerry??? LOL. We used a push mower for years, and by “we” I mean my husband and then my boys. 🙂 Now that the boys are grown and leaving home, we pay someone else to come mow for us. But don’t feel bad about the old mower. My son Wyatt married this summer, and he and his bride rented a cute little house with a yard, so the mower has been passed on to the next generation.
Ah, nothing like a cute little house with a cute little lawn!
I’ve very rarely had to mow a lawn, and it was a push mower then, which I couldn’t start without help. But I would choose a push lawn mower for a small yard, and a riding lawn mower for a larger area. Right now, I’m thankful to have someone mowing my lawn for me. That gives me more time to read. : )
I agree, Janice! Hurray for hiring out!
we mow close to 5 acres and have a John Deere Zero turn – they are fun to run!
My neighbor Debbie loves her John Deere. She says mowing is her relaxing time.
I’ve only ever used a push mower, though different ones that have mowed our yard over the years have used riding mowers.
Yeah, me too, Trudy. One of these days I’ll tackle a riding mower!
I have severe allergies, so we hire someone to do our lawn and I stay locked in the house or leave while it’s being done.
You’re not the only one to mention they don’t mow because of allergies, Christy.
Welcome today. That sounds like a cool rabbit hole to be in. (smiles) When I lived at home we had huge front and back lawns. Since the four of us oldest kids were teenagers, mom let us use the riding lawn mower as one of our chores. I loved this. I made circles and designs. Sooooo fun. My three brothers just made lines. When I got married we had a much smaller front and back lawn. But my husband liked to mow. We have a push mower. Forty years later he still likes to mow. When our son (the oldest) started middle school my husband taught him to mow the lawn. He complained and would hurry through it so fast it was not a good job. When he did this I would not pay him for it as a chore. I talked to him countless times. Finally my mom talked to him and after that he still didnt like to mow but he took his time and did a great job. So when this happened I payed him, plus we all walked to Portillos for a shake. Between my mom and the shakes, Richard did a great job. When our daughter (our youngest) wanted to mow the lawn, she convinced Richard to trade off. Richard was fine with that until he realized he wasnt getting paid for this job when his sister mowed. Oh my another set of worms opened up. Sigh. But we got through those years and now they mow their own lawns. LOL quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
Ha! That’s too funny, Lori!
A riding mower. I guess I have become lazy in my old age.
Well, that’s one reason folks do like them, Judy! Don’t worry, we’re allowed to be a little lazy when we get older.
A riding mower, we have fairly level ground.
Level ground is good, Connie!
I have allergies so hubby and our 19-year-old son usually take care of it using a push mower.
One should never mow with allergies. There ought to be a law, lol!
The back yard where I grew up had a large section of clover and that did not need much in the way of mowing; however, the rest of the lawn made up for it.
I’ve got a big patch of clover myself on our back meadow. Everything around it gets mowed. So I hear you on that!
Hi, I have never mowed the lawn, my husband does it. He prefers the push mower. (not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy at all, but thank you ) Have a great week and stay safe. Your book cover is Beautiful!
Thanks Alicia. I love this cover! And I’ll take a push mower over a riding lawn mower any day!
Since I walk with a walker as well as have allergies, I cannot mow the lawn. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
You’re welcome, Debra. Wow, lots of folks with allergies I see. My allergies involve cats and dogs so I’m still stuck mowing.
Push mower is good for my health!!