Country Lore: OIL,SEEDS & ASH CANS
Bonnie Roycewicz discovers eating honey helps bedwetting; N.M. McGee rubs cooking oil on appliance castors when they refuse to be moved; David Hottle soaks seeds and lets them dry in newspaper to ensure they are fertile; Chad Miebach learned ants and a garlic and oil spray keeps aphids away from the garden; Suzanne Blood shares the dangers of using car-starter fluid as a lubricant in lawn mowers; Robert Jezeski discovers that wood stove ash keeps slugs away from the garden; Chris Martin uses shed dog hair as critter repellant; Bob Schuetz recommends catalytic wood stove owners invest in temperature measuring equipment; Matthew Thomas, Jr. soaks cloths in furniture polish, which makes cleaning up painting mistakes easier; Leslie Newberry rinses beef under hot water to remove fat.
April/May 1992
By the Mother Earth News editors
Issue #131 - April/May 1992
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I am currently the caretaker of my grandfather's land and household. Among the other joys of being in the country, I had the opportunity to learn about my grandfather's passion — beekeeping — and the many health benefits that honey offers. I discovered one of the most surprising uses for honey when my young children were having problems with bedwetting.
Honey, being hydroscopic, is able to absorb and condense moisture. It acts in two ways: first, as a sedative to the nervous system (and nervousness is nearly always present in children who wet the bed at night), and second, to attract and hold fluid during the sleeping hours. The regular dosage should be approximately one tablespoon, but very young children will do fine with a teaspoon.
— Bonnie Roycewicz
Fort Anne, New York
For Oil We Know
When spring cleaning involves getting behind and under such large appliances as the washer, dryer, or refrigerator, rub some cooking oil in front of the casters and give a little pull. —N.M. McGee Daly City, California
To insure that fertile seed is planted in your garden, soak them overnight in water, then wrap them in damp newspaper (making sure to spread the seeds out), place them in a plastic bag, and put them in a warm, dark spot in the house. After about seven to 10 days, unwrap the seeds, and the ones that are sprouted can be planted in the garden. It's important, though, to plant them as quickly as possible after sprouting.
—David E. Hottle
Mansfield, Ohio
This summer, nearly half of my garden's Fava bean crop would have been destroyed had it not been for the above normal population of ants in and around my garden. They completely exterminated an aphid attack before any irreversible damage was done. Just a reminder of nature's help to all pesticide users; especially non-selective pesticide users. If you still need some additional assistance, try a garlic-oil spray. Some researchers say it can inhibit protein synthesis in larvae, others say it suppresses the respiratory metabolism.
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