BLOW AWAY THAT CLOGGED DRAIN

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My daughter Patricia came back from Australia and brought me a souvenir, a backcountry straw hat. I thought immediately of a way to modify it and keep those flies and pests away. Using corks (from your empty wine bottles) or buying them at the general store, string several three inches apart and three or four inches long on the brim of the straw hat. Be sure the strings are not too long or you'll have eye problems. With the corks dangling, the slightest movement chases the pests away. I wear it every time I go out (but not to church). Hope you all like it.

—Joseph Mitros
Albrightsville, PA

A Little Companion Planting

Two years ago I hung a bird feeder near the garden. The following spring, hundreds of volunteer sunflowers sprang up. I pulled most of them, but the sunflowers in the green pepper beds were so strong and sturdy, I left them. That year my peppers were bushier than ever before and covered in blossoms. Did the sunflowers have anything to do with it?

Skeptical, the next year I deliberately planted one sunflower for every two green pepper plants—and again the yield was overwhelming. Perhaps the sunflowers give just the right amount of shade to the peppers, perhaps they just grow well together, who knows? I do know that from now on sunflowers and pepper plants will share a bed in my vegetable garden.

The birds adored those huge sunflower heads, too. After harvest, I nailed them to a fence post and let the birds have a go at them.

—Julie G. DeGroat
Theresa, NY

Musical Credit?

Recycle old credit cards into guitar picks. Cut with sharp scissors, using the pick of your choice as a pattern. If you're "picky" (pun intended!), shape to perfection with a nail file.

—Merideth DeVoe
East Wallingford, VT

Real Indoor/Outdoor Carpeting

After experimenting with various ways to keep the rabbits, groundhogs, and other four-legged nuisances out of my garden, I hit upon a simple and absolutely free technique last spring. When the weather just begins to warm up, I put several carpet remnants out on the front porch for our two dogs to lie on. After a few weeks of lounging, I took these scraps out to the borders of the garden and replaced them with new ones on the porch. The dog scent managed to repel the marauders so well that I've hardly lost a vegetable through both the growing and harvest season.

—John Pitts
Orillia, Ontario

Send your practical solutions to everyday problems to "Country Lore" c/o MOTHER EARTH NEWS, P.O. Box 129,Arden,
N.C. 28704.Please include your phone number and a photo.

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