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Show It Makes Cents... By Vi Blake Weeds took over my yard this summer. Remembering how easily dandelions can be dug up with a pair of old scissors, I tried my hedge trimmer with the long blades on the mess of crab grass confronting me. This worked like a charm. I found that I could remove large clumps of crab grass with very little effort by grabbing a bunch near the ground with the shears and twisting until the roots Came loose. Within an hour the entire area around my apricot tree was weeded. I keep an empty cereal box on the counter while working in the kitchen for the trash I would normally put in the waste basket under the sink. This way, I don't have to be constantly opening the door to get to the wastebas-ket. wastebas-ket. Also, the wastebasket doesn't does-n't need to be emptied as often because the cereal box stuffed with trash takes no more room than it would if empty. Thanks to Pal Eckman for this handy idea: Spray glass cleaner on carpet spots. Blot thoroughly and put a towel weighted down on the area for a few hours or overnight to soak up any excess moisture. Roses need a boost after enduring the heat of the summer. sum-mer. If you have never had a dose of bitter Epsom Salts (once commonly used as a laxative) be as grateful as your roses will be if you put a cupful around each of them. It makes their leaves glossy. Banana peels mulched into the soil also benefits roses. Don't complain about all the leaves that fall. Rather, consider them a bonus as they will be if you pile them around your rose bushes and shrubs to protect them from damaging cold this winter. Any you have left can be added to your compost pit or dug into or merely spread out on your garden plot to enrich the soil. Cedar bark added to the leaves will keep away fleas and other pests that might nest in the leaves. If you or your neighbors have marigolds gather plenty of their seeds to plant among vegetables in the spring. Like garlic, marigolds discourage soil magnets mag-nets and other pests. Both are easy to grow. Garlic multiplies by natural root division and self re-seeding. Petroleum jelly or soap under the nails protects them while gardening. Do you have more squash and zucchini than you can use or give away? Steam, mash and freeze some to use during the winter in soups or any recipes that call for squash. You can even sneak some into the pan-. pan-. cake batter for added nutrition. Zucchini soup is delicious. Steam with onions until tender, blend, add half and half and seasonings. sea-sonings. When frost threatens, pick green tomatoes. A quick and easy way to ripen them is to leave them in a brown bag with an apple at room temperature. Dear Vi: There are ant hills everywhere on the lot where our new home is under construction. How to get rid of them? 1. Pour some camphor, naphthalene, naph-thalene, or kerosene on and around their hills. 2. Moisten one part bakers' yeast to two parts sugar and put this on pieces of cardboard around the yard. 3. Put piles of instant grits or cornmeal in and around ant hills. Once eaten, the grits expand inside the ants and they die. 4. Or (my favorite way) pour urine in and around the holes. Someone suggested that this was repulsive and unsanitary. No more so than dogs running around marking their territory, I (See VI BLAKE on page 5A) It Makes Cents From Page 4A say. And it does work. I've tried it many times. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. Ralph Waldo Emerson Readers: This is your feature. Send your good ideas or questions ques-tions to: IT MAKES CENTS, 328 So 300 E 5, St. George, Utah, 84770, or e-mail: viblakeinfowest.com. If used here, I'll send you $2.00 or one of my booklets: "Uncommon Uses for Common Household Products," "Vinegar, the Homemaker's Best Friend," "Kitchen Tricks," or "Painless Budgeting." Please state your choice. Current or past issues of this feature may be seen by visiting my web page: www.Infowest.comcents |