Mother's Down-Home Country Lore

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The next time you've got a broken window to replace but aren't sure how to remove that old, rock-hard putty from the cracked pane without chipping and scarring the surrounding wood, take this tip from Fosten Wilson of Truckee, California: "Adjust a propane torch to give a low flame—so you won't scorch the sash—then gently braze each strip of caulking just long enough to heat it through. Working with a putty knife in one hand and the torch in the other, you'll have that old grout out in less time than it took you to round up the tools!"

Here—courtesy of Danielle McGee of Chehalis, Washington—is a quick and easy way to waterproof a pair of work boots: First, heat two full 8-ounce cans of neat's-foot oil (or any liquid leather conditioner), and pour the hot grease into one boot. When the boot's had a chance to cool, drain the oil into a clean old can, reheat it, pour the hot liquid Into the other boot, and wait for it to cool. Then pour the fluid into a storage container for future use, and—finally—wipe the insides of the footgear dry with an absorbent rag.

Need a steel drum stove to make it through the winter, but you're not sure how to attach the door? Susan Jantzen of Spokane, Washington says, "You can make sturdy, long-lasting hinges from double links of bicycle or motorcycle chain. Weld one link to the stove and the other to the door and you've got an instant hinge. Or, if the chain is very small, you can use three links. In that case, weld the left outer link to the stove and the right outer link to the door and leave the center one free to move."

Flea season is fast approaching ... which means that your pet will soon be scratching and twitching all over, unless you do what Peter Parks of Mar Vista, California does: Namely, gather green eucalyptus buds—the softer the better—and attach them to the animal's collar. (Replace the nuggets with fresh ones when they've lost their smell.)

If you're thinking of planting sorghum this summer to boil down into a supply of syrupy-thick sweetener, you'd best take the advice of Harold and Sandy Henderson of Ipava, Illinois, who say: "Don't do as we did!"

Aware of the fact that sorghum-like corn—exacts a heavy toll in soil nitrogen, the Hendersons were careful to till plenty of aged horse manure into their first cane plot, before sowing seed. Imagine their surprise, then, when—at harvest time—Harold and Sandy found that their sorghum had a most peculiar flavor, a flavor reminiscent of ... could it be ... yep, you guessed it!

Some quick consultation with the man who operates their local sorghum press confirmed the Hendersons' suspicion that, Indeed, the crop does absorb flavors from aromatic substances added to the soil. "You can be sure," Harold says, "that we'll never again fertilize our cane patch the same season we plant it!"

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print