COUNTRY LORE
Gary LeDean shares a way to add warmth to a winter trip to the outhouse; M.L. Parsons tells a way to recycle a broken-handled post-hole digger; Olive Lammon tells of a healthy substitute for commercial cooking oils; Richard Etheridge tells how to prevent chickens from pecking each other to death.
January/February 1985
By the Mother Earth News editors
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Homestead Hot Seat
"It's 20° below nothing and you're tucked into bed, reading a good book, when Mother Nature beckons. The homestead privy is 50 yards from the cabin, so you crawl out of bed, struggle into several layers of clothes, duck out into the frigid night . . . and are greeted by a toilet seat that is cold, cold, cold."
That chilling introduction opened a letter from Gary LeDean, of Arlee, Montana, where the mercury indeed plunges to 20° below nothing—and then some. But there's a better way, he goes on to say...
"Here's my solution: On the porch, just outside the door, I keep a five-gallon bucket (a ten-gallon one would be even better) with about six inches of stove ashes in the bottom. When nature calls at midnight, I open the door, grab the bucket, close the door, and place the container near my wood stove. From behind the stove I grab a comfortably warm toilet seat, place the seat atop the can, take care of business, then put the seat back in its warm spot, set the bucket back on the porch, and jump back into bed.
"By adding a shallow layer of fresh ashes to the bucket each morning (or after each use), you can use this down-home chamber pot several nights before dumping its contents into your outhouse latrine.
"This 'fancy' portable toilet doesn't cost a penny if you can scrounge up a bucket or can and an old toilet seat— and it makes winter on a primitive homestead a heck of a lot easier."
Rig-a-Digger
M.L. Parsons, of West Point, Georgia, has come up with a way to recycle that old, broken-handled post-hole digger that's rusting away out in the toolshed: Separate the two sides of the digger at the hinged connection, then select the side with the best blade and sturdiest handle, and grind or hacksaw off the protruding ears. For drill a added foot ½” hole power, through the handle near where it meets the blade, and insert a ½” X 4” or 6” bolt. If you’re left-footed digger, allow the bolt to protrude from the left side, and vice versa for right-footers.
M.L. reports that this digger-to-digger conversion makes an excellent shovel-like tool for trenching, transplanting, and general gardening chores.
Better Red Than Bled
If you've ever raised chickens, you're no doubt familiar with the ill-tempered birds' habit of selecting one of their own to peck . . . and peck . . . and peck. The result is a deep, vicious wound and, quite often, death for the "scapebird." And this time of year, when the birds are spending a lot, most, or all of their time cooped up in the coop to avoid nasty weather, the pecking problem can become a nightmare. We've heard of—and passed along to you—several solutions before, but probably the most colorful approach we've seen comes from optometrist Richard Etheridge of Burlington, North Carolina. According to Dr. Etheridge . . .
