Farming Advice and Folklore: Freshening Woodstove Smoke, Storing Birdseed and Undyed Wool Mittens

enticing aromas, especially during the holiday season. I
found, though, that heating the water in the pot to boiling
used up so much of the candle, I’d soon have to replace it
to keep the brew on simmer for any length of time. Now I
heat the pot and its contents in my microwave for about a
minute on medium-high (the high setting makes it boil
over).

After that the candle flame keeps it going for a long time.

–Karen Goebel
Victoria, Texas

Double-Duty Debris

My mobile home has skirting, but that doesn’t keep the cold
Michigan winds from blowing through and chilling from
underneath the floor. My heating bill for the winter of
1986-87 was $1,200! I worried about it through the next
summer, but didn’t have the funds to insulate. In the fall,
though, I found the solution in a nearby neighborhood.

All the residents bagged their leaves and left them at the
curb. I simply collected the bags (after asking permission)
and packed them around the bottom of my trailer. That
winter my fuel bill dropped to $300–and by spring I
had lots of free compost for my garden.

–John
Peebles
Three Rivers, Michigan

Linger No Longer

Sometimes it just
happens. Your fireplace or woodstove “backpuffs” (or you
forget to open the damper!), and the room fills with smoke.
Airing the room may clear out the smoke, but the acrid odor
lingers.

What to do? Set some soup bowls half-filled with cider
vinegar around the room. When the liquid becomes dark,
replace it with fresh, and keep this up till the odor is
gone.

–Julian H. Youngman
Marshall, Texas

Sour Dreams

I was completely delighted with our new “dream house,”
until I realized there was no pilot light
anywhere–something I’d always used as a warm place to
raise dough. I was wandering around the rooms, sourdough
starter in hand, when I found myself staring at a little
yellow light. It was the signal on our waterbed indicating
that the heat was on. The temperature was set for
100°F, just perfect for my purposes.

I tucked the covered dish of starter under the covers (on
my husband’s side, in case the idea backfired), and checked
it in an hour or so. It was the bubbliest, happiest
sourdough starter you ever saw. The warm, even heat cut
rising time in half, too, so I figure modern technology has
redeemed itself again.

–Martha Lyle
Perryville, Kentucky

Rubber on Rubber

If your car gets stuck in the snow, and there’s no shovel
or sand in your trunk, place your rubber or plastic floor
mats under the tires.

–Audrey Snyder
Olympia, Washington

Liter Lore

Because I use so much birdseed during the colder months, I
buy it in the largest bags I can find. Storing these,
especially the leftovers from one season to another, had
been a pain. If the open bag didn’t get knocked over and
spilled, the weevils or mice got to the seed. Now, though,
I wash out and save three-liter pop bottles and pour the
birdseed into these as soon as I buy it. (I use the top
half of a two-liter bottle as a funnel.)

Each large bottle holds about five pounds of seed, exactly
what my feeders take every time they’re filled. This job is
made much easier, as the seed can be quickly poured in with
no waste.

–Tommie Majors
Lead Hill, Arkansas

Cold Seas, Warm Hands

The very best protection for the hands of our Nova Scotian
fishing folk are hand-knit mittens made from 100% undyed
wool. These are fashioned extremely large, as the salt
water soon shrinks them. And the benefit of this shrinking
is that the mittens become virtually waterproof. I knit
these same oversized mitts for my son, then soak them a few
times in plain water. They end up so watertight that they
can be coated with wet slush and still his hands stay warm
and dry.

—Judy Hutchins
Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia

A New Angle on an Old Problem

Like many car owners, I spend a bit of time on icy winter
mornings defrosting the windshield. This will happen faster
if you pull the visors down to a 45 degree angle to the
glass, thus catching the hot air and forcing it back
against the windshield.

–Anthony D. Andrews
Osceola, Missouri

Fast Flames

If your fireplace or woodstove is supplied with dry, cured
wood and the proper kindling, you can start a fire with a
lighted twist of newspaper. But for those occasions when my
wood is a bit green or wet, I’ve got a small stock of
“sure-fire” starters. I bought some of those ready-made
logs (I look for the ones with the fewest chemicals added),
and cut them into random-sized chunks. For very little cost
or labor, I’m assured a quick-starting fire, no matter
what.

–Dan Crawford
Arlington, Texas

Through the years we’ve all probably discovered a few practical, down-home, time-tested solutions to the frustrating little problems of everyday life. Why not share your best “horse sense” with the rest of MOTHER’s readers? Send your suggestions to Country Lore, THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS, Hendersonville, NC. A one year subscription — or a one year extension of an existing subscription — will be sent to each contributor whose tip is printed in this column. –MOTHER.