Our scythe course leaders

Jan Wester "Slåttergubben"
Year: 1978

Slåttergubben himself... yes, I have been engaged in professional haymaking since 2006. Initially with a grinding blade, but since 2008 with peening scythes. Every summer since then, we are a group of 5-10 people who mow meadows for county councils, municipalities, and private individuals for 3 months during summer. So, my course leaders and I all have experience from professional haymaking. Over the years, I have continuously developed my scythe - Nordic. It is finally in production and for sale. I have also conducted numerous scythe courses - found a good system and setup that works. There's a lot to take in in one day, but with the right setup and hundreds of small pedagogical tricks and metaphors we've learned over the years, it goes well!

Not everyone becomes a pro in a day - but it is incredibly satisfying to see how many find their way with a big smile on their face. Some say there is something religious about this craft - and they are right!

Phone: 0738 322559

Husnia Gutic "Husko"
Born: 1975

The Year is 2008 - Husko, from Montenegro, sees an ad on the job board: "Scythe workers needed - you are not born in Sweden"
Since then, we have been best friends and have worked together every summer. Husko grew up among the mountains. He worked as a shepherd boy, cultivated vegetables on a large scale without machines, learned scything from his father, and participated in work teams that mowed over 100 hectares of alpine meadows annually! He has taught me a lot about scything, peening, and honing techniques! 

Husko has a pedagogical talent and uses words and metaphors in his courses that leave us native Swedes in awe!  
He teaches in a slightly different way than I and the others do. His mowing style is also a bit distinctive - even though the core movement is essentially the same in all styles. His ability to help participants find the right feeling is magical! 
He has been holding scythe courses at least since 2018. 

Phone: 0707 499743

Ty Lotz
Born: 2001

Even as a participant in the first scything course, Ty stood out with a natural talent for scything and a receptive ability to learn this new craft without pretense. By the time she started working with us in the summer of 2022, she was already a pro, incredibly skilled in technique and sensitive to the sharpness of the scythe.

The summer of 2023 will be Ty's first year as a course leader - a responsibility I entrust with the utmost confidence. Ty is calm and pedagogical, and in addition to having an overall grasp, she has a keen eye for the small details! 

Phone: 0704 422616

Jonatan Samuelsson "Jonte 2"
Year of birth: 1998

Jonatan is a natural talent. He reached out before the summer of 2022 expressing interest in working with us. When asked about his qualifications, he mentioned that he had done some work, watched my instructional videos, and imitated them. And wow... this was proof that it is possible to learn just from courses on YouTube. I had almost no suggestions for improvement regarding his tapping, browning, or mowing techniques.
 
Jonatan assisted in courses in 2022 and will be a course instructor for the first time in 2023. He is used to managing groups and has a knack for teaching - and (almost) always has a mischievous smile;)
He is also very knowledgeable about meadows and landscape management. 

Phone: 0793 498034

Fredrik Björkegren
Born: 1986

Fredrik loves watching people grow into a craft. He is a reliable and experienced scything course leader who has worked with practical meadow management and scything courses alongside me for many years. Together, we have trained the gardeners in scything techniques at the three royal palaces in Stockholm, among other achievements. Besides being very educational, kind, and helpful, Fredrik's great advantage is that he genuinely is a small-scale farmer in a rural area. He lives with his family at Staffansbo Farm outside Boxholm with numerous animals on the farm—they also have a small farm shop. Follow the farm on Facebook here>

He has excellent knowledge in both theory and practice about plants, the cultural landscape at large, and how to create and manage garden meadows and cover crops with scythe-cut grass. Fredrik has also conducted several courses on beekeeping. 

Phone: 0701 478904

Gustav Österberg "Lillgurra"
Born: 2000

Or perhaps "little Slåttergubben"... because Gustav truly was my right hand from 2020-2022 as a permanent employee at Slåttergubben. He has learned everything admirably from birdseed to mowing and clearing brushwood. He is excellent at working hard and scything day in and day out. He has been working since 2021 in the team with mowing and already started then as an assistant in many courses. Since 2022, he has been holding his own courses and does it very well! 

He has a background as a badminton player, which gives him a natural knack for handling a scythe - why you'll find out in the course! 

Phone: 0727 430738

Josef Gardell
Year of Birth: 1999

Josef was brought along by his childhood friend "Lillgurra" to our mowing team in the summer of 2021 and has now completed two seasons. "He'll probably fit in well with the group," said "Lillgurra" - and that was absolutely right! With fantastic curiosity and inquisitiveness, he learned this craft in no time. Already in 2021, he started as an assistant in scythe courses and held his first own courses in 2022.

Without setting too high expectations on Josef here, he is probably the one in the group with the best ability to create a cheerful and relaxed atmosphere at the courses. At first glance, he might seem a little aloof, but that's just his way of being and joking! Josef is training to become a physical education teacher and truly loves pedagogy both in theory and practice. He is also a former badminton player and thus skilled in scything techniques - why, you'll learn in the course!

Phone: 0705 408964

Oskar Malmborg
Year of Birth: 1997

I first came into contact with Oskar in the summer of 2022, when he joined the work team. I soon realized that Oskar is quite special, well-trained, and had taught himself to work with a scythe really well using our video clips! Put a Nordic-style scythe in his hands and give him a few small technique tips, and he became a fully-fledged mowman. He has an enormous thirst for knowledge. 

Not just a thirst for knowledge, but Oskar has already shown an outstanding level of detailed knowledge about ecology in a broader sense, and in the smallest details about plants, fungi, insects, meadow flora... simply everything. A true multitasker. 

The year 2023 will be Oskar's first as a course leader, after assisting a little in courses the previous year. With his humility and solid talent, he will surely succeed in conducting courses smoothly. Oskar has also been the one who took the lead in organizing and scheduling the mowing courses this summer. 

Phone: 0733 725941

Emil Seipel
Year of Birth: 1999

Emil has a grandmother who is a loyal customer of herbal teas and deeply involved in scything and biodiversity. It was through her that he discovered the possibility of working with scything. Emil joined in the 2022 season and has already assisted in scything courses. He dove into the craft with incredible speed and a great capacity for self-reflection, soon having deeply analyzed every body movement, mastering both scything and sharpening like a true professional. 

Emil is studying to become a landscape architect and consistently incorporates meadows, native plants, and biodiversity into his thinking. From the 2023 season onward, he will also be instructing in our scything courses! With his kind, humble, and knowledge-seeking nature, I confidently entrust him with the responsibility of conducting scything courses! 

Phone: 0709 301555

Emil Åsegård
Year of Birth: 1984

Emil worked with us in our team from 2010 to 2012 and has since maintained several meadows for the County Administrative Board in Skåne using a scythe. 
For several years, he has conducted scything courses in Skåne together with Odd. 

He is a skilled scyther and passionate about teaching. I know no one with such an enormous knowledge of plants and the broader ecology related to grazing animals, meadows, and pastures. He is knowledgeable both on a detailed level and broadly, with a historical perspective on how landscapes have evolved and how plants, etc., have spread. 

Emil works daily as a biologist, primarily conducting surveys and investigations related to developments. 

Odd Kjellberg
Year of Birth: 1980

Odd was one of many who joined the work team long ago through the field biologists. Odd learned quickly and is very meticulous about details - important if you want to become a professional! He worked with us from 2012 to 2015 and took on a lot of responsibility for the work team when I wasn't there. He truly loves scything and teaching others. 

Odd has been conducting scything courses in Skåne since 2018 - mostly together with Emil Åsegård. 

Nowadays, he mostly works as an arborist and holds some of his own scything courses at Holma Folk High School. 

Phone: 0703 142175