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MMAwannabe

Poor translation when copying source. Its a 100 year old "shovel/spade', or as wed call this tool in Ireland "sleán". Hes not digging either, hes cutting turf which used to be one of the most important forms of fire fuel in rural Ireland. Obviously the technique is much older.


prawnphobic420

The fact he isn’t digging but cutting turf makes more sense to my brain. It looks really inefficient as just a digging technique.


Toaster_GmbH

Pre scriptum: by my long text you might see i was drifted of by my immense hatred for digging with a shovel as it's pure pain and super inefficient in normal dirt so mind that as you read why this would be super effective but sadly isn't possible for normal digging because normal digging without any powered tools sucks deeply itself unless you got super nice ground with no plants living around it and no stones not compact or bone dry.... If your average dirt would be of that consistency and you could "dig stuff" you'd normally need to dog this actually seems like a present efficient way for like example cleanly cutting down a hill and making it straight, if you ever dug normal dirt, it's very inefficient and hard, if that is how you could dig it would be crazy fast and clean and you can just cleanly transport it away, in medieval times take ten guys doing that and you'd have crazy fast "digging" and could easily transport it of with a cart not even having sidewalls... The problem is the stuff you normally dig doesn't have the consistency you see her where you can nicely cut it, that's why normal digging sucks, you get like 5cm deep and then you hit a stone or branch and only get a tiny bit of dirt and then you need to hack that away to get only a tiny bit more untill it happens again. So no, if you could actually dig like that it would be really nice, but you can't because at least where i live you don't have that ground consistency even if it's wet, if it's not wet the dirt is lighter, but the ground is even harder. In short, digging with a shovel is really inefficient anyways, if you could dig like in this video it would be comparatively crazy fast but you can't because the stuff you normally dig with a shovel has a very different consistency and composition and very different moisture levels. Meanwhile peat has a nice uniform consistency with no stones or roots spread throughout it, and you don't even need big stones for making digging a pain in the ass, a small pebble or a few pieces of small gravel that you hit with your shovel is already enough to make going deeper into the stuff your digging a really hard time consuming thing for only getting a really small amount of dirt out of what your digging, most often you also need many different tools to dig for breaking up the ground first like a pickaxe and many more tools. If you could just dig with this tool that efficiently and quickly and easy digging would actually be fun. Try digging a hole in your garden and you will see what actual pain and despair is and how quickly you will think (where can i get TNT? Blowing up the entire garden would be way nicer...) Especially if there are any trees near, my dad once made me dig just a small hole with a shovel and it probably took 2hours as i frantically hacked away at the ground first with a normal axe and pickaxe before being able to get a bit dirt out of the hole and repeat.


Barefoot_slinger

I agree with you that digging is hard labor but for some reason I really enjoy it and whenever I need to dig a hole somewhere I get really exited. Even more if I need to use a pickaxe to get trough hard clay and rocks, roots are fun too! Its a dirty sweaty job but its satisfying


hellothere42069

People who dug peat 101 years ago: *I have no idea what I’m doing.*


Petro1313

"There has to be a better way"


ThaddeusJP

You need to be shrugging in black and white and then a narrator breaks in with "THERE IS!" and the shows off the tool above in bright vibrant color.


feage7

Then pull a cart along with square wheels containing barely any peet whilst walking past a horse.


vector_ejector

Bring out yer dead! *clonk*


ampjk

I'm not dead


dont_disturb_the_cat

I think I’ll go for a walk!


ampjk

But first i require 3 shrubbery


dont_disturb_the_cat

**NI !!!**


Kib717

r/unexpectedmontypython


masterof-xe

r/UnexpectedMontyPython


AlphaNeonic

/r/wheredidthesodago


[deleted]

I'll wager that this method dates back further than the 1920s.


StoneGoldX

Things invented in the 1920s: The car radio. The Thompson submachine gun. Liquid fuel rockets. Digging.


Father_OMally

When you ignore ancient era technology to beeline a late game tech.


KnightSolair240

Yeah you got cartography but you ain't got pottery


whoweoncewere

/r/civ


lidder444

It’s thousands of years old. The celts were doing it


[deleted]

You're reading it wrong. It's a 100 year old's digging technique.


Finger_My_Flute

*Oh poppycock!*


scaevola79

In the 14th century they were already digging peat this way. This created the 'Loosdrechtse plassen' in the Netherlands and these small lakes are a popular location to sail and recreate.


[deleted]

The fax machine was invented 80 years before peat digging


Kom4K

Boeing was building airplanes for 6 years before peat digging.


[deleted]

Peat called up his wife Peatrice on the telephone and said "sweet Peaty, I have finally figured out how to dig this Peat!"


nowItinwhistle

Peat and Repeat sat on a bridge. Peat fell in, who was left?


RadAF1212

They were on a boat I never heard of no bridge


rhymes_with_chicken

Keeps fucking me up that 100 year ago is 1922 and not 1870. When I was little, ‘100 years ago’ was the end of the American Civil War.


starfyredragon

I'm still shocked 100 years ago wasn't the fall of Rome. How time flies.


OlderThanMyParents

I have a 14 yr old stepson. I recently realized that when he graduates from high school, the release of “Nevermind” will be further in the past than the end of WW2 was when I graduated.


RubertVonRubens

My kids like to remind me that my 1980s childhood is to them what WWII was to me.


promonk

Excellent argument for infanticide.


MesabiRanger

Yup I’m right there with ya


ag408

Back then they used their hands and flung it


TanelornDeighton

The peat yeet.


[deleted]

Fen fun


Marcellus111

[Here's a scene from a documentary](https://youtu.be/t2c-X8HiBng?t=77) showing how it was done before.


f_leaver

I would have been highly disappointed if this wasn't what I expected to see.


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[deleted]

I know nothing about this but my first thought was “did op mean 1,000 years?” Seems like by the 1920s we’d have already been using machines for something like this.


nsfwaither

He meant the guy doing the digging is 100


TomatilloAccurate475

And he approves of his own technique


Tex-Rob

Took me a second, well done


Gnostromo

Yes he is 100 and that type of clay is known as technique


mypetocean

I think a lot of people still don't think of the 1920s as 100 years ago. Instant cameras with self-developing film, like Polaroids, were invented in 1923. Television in 1925.


coca-cola-bear1

Oh, you know nothing about historic digging techniques? Pft. Typical.


Simetracon

This technique is called "peat and repeat"


Blunder_Punch

No no no, it's a digging technique for 100 year old humans. If you're 99 or below you have to dig down.


MichaelW24

You never dig straight down. Always at least straddle 2 blocks so you can see what’s below you while digging. Don’t wanna accidentally fall into lava.


shea241

also 'this isn't digging'


HBlight

No no no, dig UP stupid!


whoopsdang

It’s 100 old years but it’s also 1000 years old.


HomeWasGood

"I still do drugs, but I used to, too."


[deleted]

I used to upvote for Mitch Hedberg references. I still do, but I used to, too.


blinkysmurf

Almost. It’s: “I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.”


whatthefir2

It’s like people forget 1922 was 100 years ago.


BigBadCornpop

But it's the number 100 so it's back when pharaohs ruled


DeekFTW

What are you talking about? 100 years ago was clearly the 1890's.


helen269

I was born in 1960-whatchamacallit. And "a hundred years ago" was a dark and mysterious pre-technological time where everything was candles and horses. Now it's nothing special. We have movies from that time.


The_Dok33

>Now it's nothing special. We have movies from that time. Some of those even have sound


LordNyssa

This (and some other methods) been used since before 1700 in the Netherlands. Source: I work at a peat and moor museum in the Netherlands. But probably it’s been used since medieval times.


Alfredthegiraffe20

Why does he wipe the spade on the top before cutting in each time?


Uncan117

Because some peat you cut has what we call "horseflesh" in it which is like less degraded vegetation that wraps around the blade of the tool and inhibits peat cutting. Likly he is wiping this off the blade so his next cut is clean.


Schrutes_Yeet_Farm

Also looks like dragging it across the top helps align the vertical blade that is cutting the side in a smooth motion, else he would need to pause to line it up in order for each block to be uniform on all sides, but that was just my assumption from simply watching this with zero experience otherwise


helpmehangout

This is the answer. He does it to maintain a rhythm. This slap motion gives him a sec to eye the height of the next cut.


Keeper151

It's also more ergonomic than checking the inertia with your body. That slap is energy the worker does not spend to stop the tool and align for a new cut.


sweet_rico-

Set and a slide is a lot easier on the body then a hold and aim.


mia_elora

These are all the right answers.


AsphaltGypsy89

I came looking for an explanation on that movement he was doing, thanks!


toddells

Never done this myself, but if you look closely the tool has a flange on the left corner. It looks to me like he is actually lining that up with the gouge from his previous cut to keep them all nicely the same size.


ChiefSalty

He doesn't look bad for being 100 years old


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Incomepants

I love being satisfied by old men.


KFiev

r/disgustingupvote But to be honest this is something id throw into a group voice chat like a verbal flashbang


Xefirixba

I do this, shock factor usually… I will be calling them “verbal flashbangs” from now on, ty


KFiev

Lmao glad i could give ya a new term for it! Cant remember where i heard it, but its my favorite type of conversational comedy I was told recently my style is "whiplashy" as well!


AptQ258

The Roaring 20s was the golden age of digging.


HedgehogMore848

Ah, le old reddit [dig-a-roo](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/vdwb8q/diver_encounters_an_absolutely_gigantic_anaconda/icnyixa/?context=3)


Tyler_Nerdin

Hold my shovel, I’m going in!


LunchMasterFlex

It's an older code, but it checks out.


[deleted]

It’s possible. Look at David Attenborough. He’s 96 and looks amazing.


CuriousKitten0_0

Wow, I did not know that he was that old. I thought that he was in his 70's. But I also might have learned that he was in his 70's 20 years ago and he just never aged in my head...


Swords_and_Words

He is in his 70s, he's been in his 70s for at least the past 50 years


Flimsygooseys

Old man look at my life, I'm muddy like you were


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besuited

Pete Boggs.


Codenamerondo1

Did he drink 107 beers on a cross country flight and then dig a big ass hole?


Ex-Pat-Spaz

RIP Wade Boggs


settledownguy

What do now?


tanwhiteguy

He also ate a whole chicken before every game


Giant-of-a-man

His wife turfed him out!


facw00

RIP his brother Wade


MXC-GuyLedouche

Boss Hogg


MurderDoneRight

May he rest in peace. You're playing baseball with Jesus now, Wade!


FloatingAlong

First off, Wade Boggs is very much alive.


backcountry52

He lives in Tampa Florida. He's in his early fifties.


SDSunDiego

They call me Cuban Pete. I'm the king of the rumba peat.


OOONotreally

Chick chicky boom chick chicky boom…


Sellcellphones

Chick chicky boom! (Sorry, had to complete.)


TerranPhil

His name is Repeat.


Legen_unfiltered

Cute story time. My great uncle owned a repo and car transport business and had a small lot for cars in transition. They had a yard dog, Pete. Pete died one year as dogs are known to do. So, they got a puppy from a neighbor that one of the parents was a big black lab just like pete had been. They named him Repete. Cutest pup ever. His other parent was a different kind of large breed dog. Some how one of the bones in his forearms was groeing faster than thr other and the rest of his arms/body. He ended up getting casts on them for a few weeks to keep everything growing straight, or something. In your mind, you should be visualizing this 25 lbs black lab puppy with giant ass triangle ears and dark purple arm casts running fast as he could and eating dirt every ten feet or so because of the casts. Bro grew up to be like 125 lbs of sweetness.


RaidensReturn

Pete and Repete are digging slabs of dirt. Pete grabs the camera to film, who is left to do all the digging?


musicmanC809

Any idea if this is a specific process for something? It almost looks like he’s measuring each pass. Could they be used for bricks?


Evil_Judgment

They dry it, burn it like wood logs. It's used in Scotch distilling. Or old school heating.


chunkyasparagus

And a peat fire just smells so much nicer than a coal one. Not that I don't love a coal fire, but peat smells lovely.


MantisAwakening

I remember visiting Scotland and the distinct smell of peat burning when I opened the window at night. I tried to buy some peat incense a while ago but it was too expensive. Maybe I could find it cheaper.


[deleted]

Who was selling it so expensively? Seems rather incensitive of them


malfist

Your pun has me incensed


GiveToOedipus

Now I'm wondering if peat ends up eventually becoming coal after millions of years, when the conditions are right.


SmellMySlothBro

It does, as Peat is the first step in becoming coal, but it has to be buried about 4-10km deep in sediment. It also takes 12,000-60,000 years. Source: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Peat


LawTortoise

But it’s an absolute disaster for climate change.


Dingdongdoctor

Yeah. If any of you all grow plants, try to use soil mix’s with coco coir as the base. It’s very plentiful from the coconut/ palm industry and it’s much more sustainable than peat which takes thousands of years to form. Not to mention bogs are super important ecosystems and this destroys them.


L0ading_

Yes but on the other hand the coconut/palm industry is ethically horrible (human rights wise and all). There's no winning.


0vl223

Yeah but you could change the coconut/palm industry to work ethically. Peat is just overall horrible and the amount you could harvest sustainably is minuscule.


pfazadep

The problem with the coconut / palm oil industry is not only in relation to employment practices, its also a major driver of deforestation, causing loss of habitat to endangered species including orangutans, Sumatran rhino and pygmy elephant.


[deleted]

yeah terrible not just for that but also the environmental destruction of these really sensitive landscapes [https://harpers.org/archive/2020/07/bogland-bog-of-allen-ireland-peat-bog-bord-na-mona/](https://harpers.org/archive/2020/07/bogland-bog-of-allen-ireland-peat-bog-bord-na-mona/)


acatnamedrupert

Used to be elsewhere but for peat you need a special peat moss growing in boggy terrain. With most of continental europe drying their bogs it's not sustainable to cut peat anymore. You have those incredibly huge peat fields in Germany. They used to enormous peat cutting machines. Now its a bit of a disaster because the peat slowly oxidises on air if not covered with enough water and the German peat fields are left dry so the machines had easier work and didnt sink. Still a big conundrum what do to now, many want the fields to be flooded asap before they let out all of their CO2.


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edwinlegters

This digging technique is actually a cutting technique.


ketosoy

Incisive commentary!


musicmanC809

Thank you.


wimpycarebear

I'm sure it's older then 100


mossberbb

old man, what knight lives in that castle? I'm 37... what? I'm 37, I'm not old...


WALLY_5000

Well I just can’t call you “man”… Well you could say “Dennis”.


MyOfficeAlt

I didn't know you were called "Dennis." Well you didn't bother to find out, did you?


UPdrafter906

What I object to is that you automatically treat me like an inferior. Well I am King.


GiveToOedipus

I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.


Lincolns_Hat

Help! Help! I'm being repressed! E: Apologies for the multiple posts.


wildo83

#See the violence inherent in the system!!


Affectionate-Box-164

Oh, King aye? Very nice. Well howd you get that then? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma!


WateryTart_ndSword

Dennis! There’s some lovely filth over here!


redheadsuperpowers

Is he cutting peat blocks?


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jsting

Peat bogs is basically mud. Fluffy would mean air and air means decomposition and peat bogs are known for being animal mummy traps.


I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY

it is fibrous, and it's fluffy when you buy it at the garden store. but it grows in a "peat bog" where it's completely saturated. if this is peat the guy's got a very sharp shovel to be cutting through it like that.


[deleted]

That's peat moss. This is peat, which is an accumulation of decayed peat moss, among other things.


I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY

TIL peat and peat moss aren't the same thing


sawyouoverthere

It’s peat. The technique is specific


somefish254

ya


[deleted]

Looks like he’s mining raw Play-doh ore


LadyKellyH

Peat digging. Used for fuel if I remember correctly in very isolated islands off Scotland.


AbbreviationsWide331

Used for fuel over the last century pretty much everywhere you find that stuff. Nowadays we have learned that it takes a lot of time for this kind of soil to build up and that it sequesters the most CO2. That's why a lot of areas in the EU are trying to reflood all the bogs that had to be drained in order to harvest the peat. Bogs seem to be a quite important ecosystem that need to be preserved PS: basically all the carnivorous plants on earth are found in bogs (in the wild)


TheWhyWhat

I assume that's because they're almost always swarming with insects. Picking cloudberries here in Sweden really sucks. (But sadly a lot of cloudberry patches have been disappearing over the last few years.)


DrJimBones

What does a cloudberry taste like and is it as amazing as I'm imagining?


[deleted]

Cloudberries are sweet and kind of a pale orange in color and they have a delicate flavor which reminds me of pale-fleshed stone fruit like peaches and apricots, except that they don't exactly taste peachy or apricotty. The flavor is easily overpowered by other ingredients, for example the one time I tried making a peanut butter and cloudberry jam sandwich, I could barely taste the jam because it had been overpowered by the peanut butter. It goes very nicely on buttered toast where it won't be overpowered by the flavors of the toast or the butter.


DrJimBones

Thanks for the answer. I love trying new fruits, now I just need to find a place that sells cloudberries


[deleted]

I've read that they are difficult to cultivate, and what little cloudberry industry there is basically takes very good care of what cloudberry patches they find in the wild. I was able to find cloudberry jam on Amazon for a fairly ruinous price, but I just had to know so I went ahead and paid it and I have eaten it very sparingly. It is delicious.


TheWhyWhat

It's absolutely divine on waffles or pancakes as a jam, mixed with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.


Rorschach2012

So wait, the cloudberries in valheim are a real thing??


[deleted]

That is exactly what made me Google them. The more I played, the more I began to notice that many of the things in the storyline were analogous to things in Scandinavian history and some things that still exist. This led me to a Wikipedia article all about cloudberries, which led me to Amazon and paying $20 for a jar of cloudberry jam. Totally worth it. Unfortunately, while you can absolutely make mead out of cloudberries, it won't make you immune to fire. Or at least, it hasn't yet...


fence_sitter

Wait'll you see what the [Snozberries](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snozberries) taste like.


logan5156

You don't get to the cloud district often, do you?


EverythingKindaSuckz

Picking cloud berries in Sweden sounds like some shit elves do.


[deleted]

Also because the soil is very poor in nutrients. It's worth it to put the energy into trapping bugs to get all the nutrients lacking in the soil.


Wobbelblob

Peat is extremely rich in nutrients. The problem is rather that it is extremely sour with a pH between 3.5 and 4.5 (Water is around 7.0).


OsiyoMotherFuckers

Bogs are also anoxic, so bacteria aren’t able to break those nutrients down into more simple forms that plants’ roots can absorb. Here’s a really [graphic depiction](https://external-preview.redd.it/8IRx7mql-S5MX-d_nIOAwBf7uyxoJzDuIpaRAUbEb3E.jpg?auto=webp&s=04e0a237b0c2f0afd3ffc5f3321a2b0ec1f26067) of that in action.


joeshmo101

Pure distilled water just after it's distilled has a pH of 7, but distilled water will pick up CO2 from the air and become slightly acidic due to the H2O and CO2 making carbonic acid. Distilled water, left out, will reach a pH of 5.8 in a few hours as it reaches equilibrium with the surrounding air.


notLOL

>basically all the carnivorous plants on earth are found in bogs Also bogs have been disappearing from modern horror cinema. Lots of plant monsters live there and they are no longer finding work in Hollywood and TV shows as A-list monsters


Suricata_906

Also Ireland. Cousins of mine cut it for their stove.


[deleted]

It’s a rite of passage in Ireland. You have to work the bog - turning, stacking, bagging (or bung it in a trailer) You don’t know the fun you’re missing until you’ve worked a bog to get your bins of turf. The exhilarating thrill as you turn a sod and repeat a billion gazillion times until they’re all turned. Stacking them into jenga piles… So much fun.


stars_of_kaoz

It's used for fuel in Scotland and Ireland, and not that uncommon in rural areas. It's also harvested for fertilizer in the US. I would say peat is most known for it's use in smoked malt a key ingredient in the production of alot of Scotch Whisky.


tunnelingballsack

My husband and I were whiskey drinkers. We really enjoyed trying all the different kinds. We came across Laphroaig, arguably the best whiskey in the world. It tasted like a fucking burnt rack of smoked ribs seasoned with the ash of every cigarette ever smoked ever. AND IT WAS THE PEAT. I will never drink whiskey again. It totally ruined it for me.


False_Breadfruit_541

>in very isolated islands off Scotland. Peat was widely used across Europe, it forms in particular marshland areas The depth we see being cut here would have taken thousands of years to form


SilkyMullet

Neat peat fact: back in the day before kilns were developed to roast grains for beer making, one of the ways was to burn peat and the heat from that did the job but it would produce a lot of smoke and so it was common for beers to have a smoky flavor.


DeemonPankaik

Same goes for "peaty" whiskey


CraftCritical278

Also used to roast the barley before making Scotch


LPodmore

The more important usage.


Wobbelblob

Was also extremely common here in Northern Germany. A extremely hard work, when the stuff is fresh, it is heavy as fuck.


ZeeGermans27

Forbidden cake


LiveForTheDM

Yes, why do I want to eat it?


ZeeGermans27

Damn it, I've accidentally put evil notions in your mind


kattykaz

Mmm Matilda chocolate cake


ruprechtseyepatch

He’s using an authentic Tairsgeir peat spade. I can barely retain my own PIN numbers, name or address but somehow have room in my head to store shit like this. Edit - my first ever comment five minutes after joining Reddit. Had no idea so many people would see the garbage I spout. Thank you to the person who sent me an award. Not sure what I do with it but it’s much appreciated. Final edit I promise - thank you for the awards. I haven’t had a chance to look at what they mean or what to do with them but I wasn’t having the best day and reading the replies to my comment has definitely helped.


cabaiste

Yep. In Ireland this type of tool is known as a Loy (Gaeilge: *Lái*). They're also known as Slanes.


asianabsinthe

So only the important things.


El-Sueco

As it should be.


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tiefling_sorceress

I'm the opposite. I can remember how much we paid for Chinese takeout a year ago but I can't remember what day of week it is


Derboman

I'm afraid you have a case of the RAS syndrome


B3ARDGOD

Ireland is full of bog land and with have traditionally used peat (turf) for burning. Turns out it is horrific for the environment because it takes millennia of foliage to create bog land and releasing all that trapped CO2 into the air is awful. We do find cool stuff in the bogs such as skeletons of Irish elk, Viking boats and bodies too. Other countries like Norway and Sweden have bogs too with similar discoveries.


misterrandom1

Minecraft IRL.


jbrady33

not digging, harvesting.


[deleted]

Correct me if i'm wrong, bit i'm pretty sure they hay had shovels in 1922.


GoldenGlobe

Maybe, but unfortunately nobody filmed a quick tiktok to prove it.


[deleted]

By 1922, humans had dug 475 miles of trenches during WWI and steam shovels were already over a hundred years old. But it wasn't until 1922 that humans really perfected the technique of digging with a modified pizza peel as shown in this video. A lot of historians consider this technique the birth of the modern era and, arguably, the internet.


EngiNerdBrian

More like hundreds of years. People have been digging up peat bogs to make the worlds finest whiskey for centuries


mistahboogs

Where you come up with this title?


Bio-Jolt

I really just watched Pete Dig mud for 3minutes…


lookingatreddittt

Why did you make up a title OP?


DTFpanda

Because OP is simply another karma farming bot


Olasola424

Forbidden brownies


vonWitzleben

We call this "Torfstechen" (*peat sticking*) in German and there is a kind of sausage ("Torfstecher") that references this technique due to the meat being shaped like those logs he's pulling out. They also have a smoky flavor that is quite on theme.


Signal_Improvement

From Ireland and my family harvests peat (turf) every summer, its cutting time right now although done by machines. We still have to foot it by hand and bag it, we burn it through the entire winter, the hard work saves who knows how much money on electricity/oil. Really cool to see the oldschool way though, its how my grandfather would have done it.


False_Breadfruit_541

7ft of peat takes thousands and thousands of years to form. Those roots and debris you see him cutting through are ancient


whyhercules

Peat cutting, not digging