Mother's Down-home Country Lore
(Page 2 of 4)
November/December 1981
By the Mother Earth News editors
If your cat likes to entertain itself on a dull winter day by nibbling on your houseplants, why not present the feline with his or her very own foliage? That's what Joan Hackathorn did. Joan—a MOTHER-reader from Newton, lowa—potted a catnip plant and watered it well. Then she set the gift where Puss could easily reach it ... and happily discovered that the animal ignored her plants in favor of its own!
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"In 'Ten Commandments for Raising Healthy Chickens' (MOTHER NO. 67, page 96), Randy Kidd advises putting a shallow pit beneath the roosts to catch droppings. In our log chickenhouse we have such a pit . . . and not only does it collect droppings from our happy cluckers, but it becomes a heat source for their winter comfort, as well," writes Cathy Wodyga of Challis, Idaho.
"All we do is dig a ditch about four feet deep . . . put in a layer of twigs . . . and cover them with dirt, compost, and some well-rotted manure. We next apply small-mesh chicken wire a few inches beneath the roosts ... which catches eggs but allows droppings to fall into the pit.
"This chicken-fueled furnace has very little odor and provides the coop with a lot of extra warmth. Then, when spring arrives, our garden gets treated to wonderfully rich compost!"
Believe it or not, cold air can enter your house through the electrical outlets. But Colette Peckham found a simple solution to her draft problem by insulating the wall plates! You see, Colette recycles the plastic foam trays from meat packages she purchases at the supermarket. One day, she removed all the electrical outlet plates and traced each one on a freshly washed (and dried) tray. Then the resident of Jackson, Michigan cut the patterns out (a fraction of an inch smaller than the traced lines), placed the foam pieces under the wall plates, and fastened each one back in its place. Presto! No more chilly drafts.
According to Leslie Coburn, anyone who heats with wood should keep a pair of welding gloves beside the stove. Leslie and her husband—who hail from Franklinton, North Carolinahave found the gloves invaluable for handling hot coals and ashes . . . picking up burning logs (only if absolutely necessary) . . . and adjusting hot draft controls.
Cookie and Drew Dillon of West Kill, New York report that an effective and thrifty food dryer can be made by simply suspending an old aluminum screen door from the ceiling (using hooks and thin chain) over your woodstove.
