Country Know How

in the fall when pumpkins are plentiful and even cheap after Holloween, is a good time to stock up on lots of good eating! If you have a garden, be sure to plant some sugar pie pumpkins if you can, or a vine or two of any pumpkin. So good, so easy to grow, and so healthy too!
Be sure to watch the two you tube examples of fixing pumpkin puree, those gals know what they're doing! Especially the one that cuts the pumpkin in half, then before scooping out the innerds, she cuts the halves into 1" strips. The seeds come to the top, which you pick off into a bowl, and then with a sharp knife just cut the stips into 1" cubes, cut of the rind, cut off the 'strings' and pop the cube into a pot. Keep on until the pumpkin(s) are done, then fill the pot half full of water and cook until the pumpkin pieces are soft.
Drain the cubes, reserving the water if you want to to feed to the dogs, goats, horses or chickens, or use in baking, then mash the cubes, and drain further by placing on a splatter screen over a bowl. Once the puree is thick, scoop into freezer bags or containers, and freeze for up to a year!

to save the seeds, air dry any you want to save to plant, the rest wash and place in single layer on a cookie sheet and bake a few minutes until they're dry. Melt some butter, sprinkle in salt to taiste, and toss the seeds into the melted butter until they're coated well, and bake again for another 15 min or so. These can be placed in a freezer container, but you might find they don't last that long, nummy!

Remember Grandmas button jar? If you were like me you could spend hours playing and sorting them. Well, I inherited my Grandma's buttons, and my Mother's, and have collected a bunch of my own. So what do you do when you have a stash of buttons? Try making jewlery from them! Start with a backing piece that will accept glue. For these I used a good cardboard from the back of a writing tablet. Cut the backing into the rough shape you want, then using scraps of lace, trims, etc. and buttons start designing your broaches! Glue each piece on, I like tacky glue as it dries clear and slowly enough so you can change your mind for a bit after gluing. When the front is dry, glue on a pin back, and voila! A unique fashion statement!

This isn't a great picture, but you can get the idea. I started with an old chain link dog kennel, added 2'x4's across the top with underlayment sheets over those, and then put a big blue tarp over it all. Inside, I used old shipping pallets for a floor and voila, you have a storage shed for very little money! Just remember to weight down the top, bottom edges and wrap and 'fix' the corners well, as the wind's fingers will try to rip the tarp off! I used old tires, rims, what ever I had on hand to weight it down, and so far so good. If you run ropes across the top, pad with old cardboard, or such where the ropes rub on the tarp. (keeps the ropes from making holes!). This whole deal cost me about $200 total with the bulk of the cost being the two big tarps to fit this deal --mine is 6'x16', and remember the tarps have to reach the the ground after going over the kennel.

1. to move any smaller animal (dog, goat, sheep, mini horse,) safely in a car or small vehicle, find a collar and leash, baling twine, belt, etc.. Fashion a collar around the animal's neck, being sure it won't slide enough to come off, or tighten too much and choke. Then leave a tail about the length of your arm, this could be any sturdy but small diamiter rope or twine, and put the animal on the floor of the vehicle, with the head towards the door, and being careful not to shut the ears, nose, etc in the door, shut the door with the tail of rope hanging out from the bottom. Pull it enough so that the animal's head is down towards the floor, (the animal should lie down or kneel) then tie a knot in the rope at the door, thus holding the animal there.
This doesn't hurt the animal, most will lie quietly until released, and it does allow you to drive safely without a critter bouncing around the car!

2. this is a great tip if you have moldy leather, book, maybe even fabric. And the mold won't come back if this is done right. I get out the cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide, and soak a cotton ball in the peroxide, squeeze it out to nearly dry, and wipe over the moldy area. When the ball turns black or green, use a fresh one until all the mold is gone. This has saved many a leather piece, and even some valued books for me!

3. To keep those bugs out of your flours and pastas, grains, and cereals in your kitchen, just pop a whole bay leaf or two in the container. Voila! The bugs die that are in there, won't come in if they aren't! And the bay leaves don't 'taint' the food they're stored with. You can get whole bay leaves at any health food store, online health food /spice shops, and even most grocery stores. The brighter green the better! (I've used this with barley, rolled oats, etc for up to 2 years with great success! When I didn't use bay leaves, I was sorry!
And when you've used the product the bay leaf was protecting, either use it crumbled with beaf or put it into another package of grain based product! No waiste!

4. For those of you who have chickens, pets or flocks, a cheap and great bedding for them is the fall leaves you rake off your yard. It helps if you can get them from unsprayed areas, but any rural areas should offer free leaves for the raking, from ditches and road sides at least. The biddies love to scratch at them, they keep the 'smells' down really nicely, and are easy to clean up once they're shredded. Add the cleanings to the flower or veggi garden, and give them a fresh batch. The leaves also resist clumbing, the top layer likes to stay dry and fluffy.

5. Do you love corn on the cob? Do you love easy? Well, then you'll love this tip! When corn on the cob is abundant, we often don't have the time to 'put up' a lot. This couldn't be an easier way, gently peel back the husks and remove most of the silk, then pull the husks back up snug around the ear of corn. You can strip off the tough, dry husks, but be sure to leave at least 2 layers of green husks around. Put the 'cleaned' cobs into a plastic grocery bag, as many as you'd need for a meal, tie the bag closed and drop into the freezer! For up to 6 months, when you want corn on the cob, pull out a bag, and my favorite, remove from the bag and slide into the oven. Roasted corn on the cob, nummmmm, or you can finish husking and desilking and plop into boiling water. You don't have to let them thaw much, just enough to handle them comfortably. I've used this method myself for many years, and have yet to be dissapointed with the results!

These carpets are woven on my Grandma's old Studio Art 4 harness loom. But even if you can't weave, it's worth recycling those old fabrics. About any old garment can repurposed, either by cutting into inch wide strips, or into blocks for quilting, or into pieces and then make stuffed toys from them.
The strips are best from cottons, dbl knits, or denums, and can be sewen end to end (end of strip to end of next strip, making one long strip) and wound into a ball. From there you can braid a rug, crochet a rug or bag, etc. and or even sell the rag balls as home decor!
Quilting doesn't always mean complicated or big, practice using your blocks in a pillow top, or table runner, and go on from there!
And especially for those heavy coats, the wooly insides, or good wool like outsides, make great stuffed toys! I've made many a teddy bear from old coats. To keep these toys friendly for tots, do consider embroidering the eyes, noses, etc. with a colorful yarn instead attached buttons, push pin eyes, etc.
Truly, your imagination is the limit, and even for stuffing those toys or small quilt projects, pillow stuffings from old pillows, old towels, or thick blanket, cut to size work great!
Go ahead, get those creative juices flowing!