Library Book - A Review

https://www.amazon.com/001-Old-Time-Household-Hints-Timeless/dp/1616081759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547507042&sr=8-1&keywords=1001+old-time+household+hints

1,001 Old-Time Household Hints: Timeless Bits of Household Wisdom for Today's Home and Garden by the Editors of Yankee Magazine, 2011, Skyhorse Publishing

I love reading through books like this. It reminds me of listening to my grandmothers, and my Daddy. I envision what their life was like before all the power tools and conveniences modern day brings. I appreciate the editors who scoured the old books and complied tidbits from the “Greatest Generation” and before, some written as far back as the 1700's!

I never planned on reading it word-for-word, just scan through until something caught my eye.
Oh. My....

I stopped cold at the Window Washer’s Secret! I hate washing windows because they never ever are sparkling the first time around. I do use a squeegee and it helps, but-

This trick, from Short Cuts to Better Housekeeping (1949), was a duh moment for me... on inside of the window use horizontal strokes and on the outside use vertical strokes. That way, I can tell whether the dried streaks are on the inside or outside! How simple is that!?! And, a good point, a modern day window washer, Kim Carpenter, recommends washing windows in the evening, the shade, or on a cloudy day as the sun can cause the glass to dry too quickly.

Then, as a reminder because I’ve done this before - use automobile chrome polish and a cotton rag (such as a T-shirt) to clean/shine chrome or nickel plating fixtures around the sinks!

Oh, and I never thought of using a soft-bristled toothbrush, sprayed with furniture polish, to dust into small cracks, nooks, and corners of furniture!

I hate to throw away an old garden hose! From either the book 380 Things to Make for Farm and Home (1941) or 500 More Things to Make for Farm and Home (1944) a couple of ideas caught my attention...

    To prevent bruising the bottom of your foot when you use a shovel, pad the top edge of the blade with a short length of hose. Cut the hose to the appropriate length to slip over the top of the shovel blade, on the side where you normally push with your foot.
   
    Pad the wire handle of a pail with hose. Most buckets now come with a plastic sleeve around the wire, but these break and sometimes are difficult to grip easily.

Of course, in Part Three... An Old-Time Gardener’s Guide... I paid closer attention to what they shared.

I won’t go into detail what they relayed from The Expert Gardener (1640), the directives as to what and when to plant by the moon. A good rule of thumb for me to remember however: “

When the moon is waxing, plant crops that bear above the ground; when the moon is waning, plant root crops.

Okay, I’m just going to copy verbatim the In Sync with the Stars...

Zodiac signs fall into four categories:
    water (Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio)
    earth (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn)
    air (Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra)
    fire (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius)

    Plant leafy and aboveground crops when the moon passes through the water signs;
    plant root crops as it moves through the earth signs

    When the moon is in the air and fire signs, don’t plant.
    Instead, spend your time weeding and harvesting.

    A couple of exceptions to the rules:
         You can plant herbs in Libra, and the fire signs are considered good for sowing see crops such as grains and beans (for drying).

Oh, and in Grow Comfrey for Your Compost they write “a healing herb cultivated as far back as 400 B.C.” (emphasis mine!) It must be something worthwhile indeed!

Sage advice from Grandpa Harper (Harry Harper, Eden, New York, perennial gardener from the 1940s until 1965):

... think about things from the plant’s point of view and to notice their needs.

I never thought to even consider: heed growth warning of perennials! This is a good thing as I don’t want any of one thing to take over. I know I must take precautions with the comfrey, but I have the perfect spot planned - far far away from the “regular” garden.

Several times while scanning the pages of this book on the kindle, I would come across a word or phrase that would catch my attention. Stumpery is a good example! I had no clue there was a name (and has been done since the 1800s) that I did last year when we cut down “Mr. Mesquite” and simply left some huge logs in the rosemary bed where they dropped! Now I know what to call this area, it’s a Stumpery!

A fun read (scan through) indeed!