COUNTRY LORE
(Page 3 of 4)
Anna Laitala of Ely, Minnesota learned by accident about the strange powers of "Rhubarb Magic". Weeds and quack grass were invading —successfully—every side of her beloved garden ... except for the one edge lined with a row of rhubarb plants. Curious, she moved some of the tasty-stalked (but poisonous-leaved) pieplants over to another besieged border. The rhubarb "wall" blocked attacking underbrush there, too!
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Before long, Anna was using those potent perennials everywhere. Discarded leaves and flower stems eliminated weeds and pests between the rows of her crops. Huge rhubarb blades draped over cabbage and cauliflower plants thwarted cabbage worms. And slit fronds—wrapped around her young broccoli shoots— successfully checkmated cutworms.
Any plant that can do all that must be—as Anna says—"truly magical".
Tired of swallowing sugar-filled, artificially flavored commercial gelatins? Well, you don't have to stop eating the sweet jellied concoctions. Instead, follow this recipe from Lorraine De Souza of Chester, New Hampshire ... and create your own! First, brew up a pot of your favorite herb tea (make the batch potent so it'll maintain its flavor after dilution). Next, mix— until dissolved—2 cups of this hot herb broth with 2 packets of unflavored gelatin and honey (to taste). Stir in 2 cups of cold water, let the finished treat chill, and then sit back and relax with your "junkfree gel joy"!
To make this homemade goodie even tastier, Lorraine suggests substituting fruit juice for the cold water... and adding some chunks of fresh fruit as well.
Robert Weiss of Stoughton, Wisconsin has figured out a nature-loving idea to try at your friends' spring weddings. When the bride and groom leave the church (or field or whatever), don't throw rice ... throw bird seed! You won't waste the grains, or have anything to clean up. Some feathered wedding guests will take care of it all.
A one-man two-man saw?! That's what Ray Ginsbury of Stratford, New Hampshire had to rig up when he couldn't find anyone to help him use his two-person woodcutter. Ray hung a 20-pound, rock-filled sack from a tree branch. Then, he positioned his log-loaded sawbuck under the limb so he could tie the bag to one end of his crosscutter. Ginsbury grabbed 'holt of the other end of the saw, pulled once, and then-like a pendulum—the tree-tied bag pulled the blade on back.
