HOMESTEADER'S FIREWEED HONEY

Image Gallery Skip McKibben making honey

COUNTRY LORE

Exactly as made by a real bee!

Recently, I went to visit my friend Skip McKibben on the small beautiful island of Rangell, the oldest established island in Alaska. One day I watched him gather some fireweed and clover on the island and proceed to make the simplest most delicious honey. I thought I'd pass along the recipe.

10 cups sugar
1 teaspoon alum powder
2 1/2 cups boiling water
30 white clover blossoms
18 red clover blossoms
18 fireweed flowers, or red rose petals

Boil sugar, alum powder, and water for ten minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and steep for ten minutes. Strain. Pour into warm jars. (They do not need to be sealed.)

—Judith Miller
Elizabeth, CO

Frozen Candle Pops
I'm writing in response to the wonderful idea in the December/January 1996 issue. The article "Crafty Uses for Old Insulators" in Country Lore described uses for old insulators. I promptly tried the ideas and was pleased with the results! I have a tip for removing candles from their candleholders. When the candles have burned down, instead of using hot water to remove them simply place the entire candle and holder in the freezer. After a few hours, the candle pops out when you shake it a couple of times! No more digging and gouging!

—Dorothy Sieler-Bonk
Billings, MT

Mushy Carton Protects Plants I always buy eggs in those mushy cardboard cartons. Then, when it's time to plant seeds, I punch a tiny hole in each segment, fill it with good soil and drop a seed in. It's easier to water, and, as the tiny seedlings appear, the carton walls shade them. The carton dissolves beautifully into the soil as the plants grow tall and strong. It's easy to thin out the weak ones and it's hard for bugs to crawl up on the walls of the carton to bother my plants.

—Anne Schraff
Spring Valley, CA

Wasted Soap, a Thing of the Past In the January 1996 issue, John Turner gave a procedure for saving the little leftover ends from bar soap. I use a different procedure. After we collect several dozen ends, I break them up and soak them in water for several days. Then, with some more water, I mix the whole mess up with a blender to make a quart or so of liquid soap.

—Raymond Sommers

rsommers@worf uswp. edu

Recycled Orange Mesh Bags I too don't like to waste soap, but I don't have time to waste torching my soap or blending it into hand soap. Wasted soap slivers are a thing of the past when you put the bar in any kind of netting (for example, a knotted oranges bag). You can easily hang the netting and it makes an effective scrubber. To make soap last longer, buy several bars at a time, take off the wrappers and let them air-harden. Then the soap won't disappear the second it hits the water.