We just finished mowing our lawn for the first time of the season. Yahoo! My wife and I decided soon after purchasing our first home that we were reel mower people. You know, the kind you push and doesn’t make much noise and doesn’t use gasoline or electricity? Yeah, that kind.

Well today Dylan (my four year old son) announced he was going to help me mow the lawn. He grabbed on to one side of the handle, I held the other, and we talked about why I use this type of mower and being careful to stay away from the spinning blades and a short time later the lawn was mown! Now I cannot claim that he helped me the entire time. After all, the Jump-o-Lene has been transformed into an impromptu sand box filled with the foundation sand from the shed I dismantled earlier this spring. But it is kinda cool to hold a conversation related to conservation with one’s child while mowing, doncha’ think?

We use a Great States brand mower, there are others out there of course and they are reasonably priced. There are definitely downsides to using this kind of mower, however. For instance, it only works when pushing it forward, not backward. Also, the reel and blades are inside of the wheels, so the cutting swath is not as wide as someone used to a conventional mower might expect. These two factors lead to a bit of back and forth and re-mowing places you have already been, as well as satisfyingly tired arms.

I can’t recommend this type of mower for everyone, but if you are into doing things the “hard way” for all the right reasons, I encourage you to try mowing the reel way.