Country Wisdom Almanac

COUNTRY WISDOM ALMANAC

---

COUNTRY WISDOM ALMANAC

373 Tips, Crafts, Home Improvements, Recipes, and Homemade Remedies

Excerpted from Storey Publishing’s
* Country Wisdom Library *

Compiled by Amy Rost

---

Copyright © 2008 Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers

All rights reserved. No part of this book, either text or illustration, may be used
or reproduced in any form without the prior written permission from the publisher.

Published by
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.
151 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011

Distributed by
Workman Publishing Company
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014

Portions of the material contained in this book were originally published
by Storey Publishing LLC as part of its Country Wisdom Bulletin series.

Manufactured in the United States of America
Cover and interior design by Elizabeth Driesbach

ISBN-13: 978-1-57912-582-0

eISBN: 978-1-60376-281-6

h g f e d c b a

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available on file.

---

CONTENTS

Spring

Vernal Equinoxes, 2008–2020

Spring Holidays (United States and Canada)

ANIMALS

1. Providing Nesting Materials

2. Nesting Platform for Robins, Eastern Phoebes, and Barn Swallows, Part 1 of 3

3. Nesting Platform for Robins, Eastern Phoebes, and Barn Swallows, Part 2 of 3

4. Nesting Platform for Robins, Eastern Phoebes, and Barn Swallows, Part 3 of 3

5. Rescuing a Fallen Baby Bird

6. Recognizing a Healthy Rabbit

7. Getting Acquainted with a New Rabbit

8. Clean Floors Equal Healthy Horses

9. Solving Common Dog Behavior Problems: Barking

10. Quieting a Whining Pup

11. Natural Flea Protection for Dogs

12. Fleas-Flee Powder

13. Plants That Are Poisonous for Cats

14. Houseplants Versus Cat Plants

15. Beyond Catnip: Other Greens Your Cat Will Enjoy

COOKING

16. Homemade Ballpark Mustard

17. Make Your Own Bean Sprouts

18. The Best Blossoms for Eating

19. Snow-Pea Salad with Sweet-Pea Flowers

20. Spring Fling Tea

21. Stand-up Steaming for Spring Asparagus

22. What Makes Hot Peppers Sizzle?

23. Safe Pepper Handling

24. Two Salsas

25. Nutrition Notes: Getting the Most from Cooked Vegetables

26. Spinach Squares

27. Ras al Hanout

28. Sweet Sugar Substitutes

29. Honey Chocolate Brownies

30. Country Inn Granola

31. Salt

32. Frozen Tarragon Cubes

33. Chived Green Beans

34. Creative Uses for Celery Leaves

35. Cooking with Blueberries

36. Blueberry Syrup

37. Blueberry Betty

CRAFTS

38. Decorated Gift Soaps

39. Crepe Paper Easter Egg Decorations

40. Making a Basic Flower Press

41. Making a Portable Field Flower Press

42. Foraging for Field Specimens

43. Using Your Flower Press

44. The Thick and Thin of Pressing

45. Perfectly Pressed Rosebuds

46. Pressed Flower Bookmarks

47. Decorating Candles with Pressed Botanicals

48. Classic Rose Potpourri

49. Stenciling Savvy

50. Tracing and Cutting a Stencil

51. Using a Stencil to Print a Continuous Design

GARDENING

52. Planting Dates in Relation to Frost

53. Planting Spring Potatoes

54. Asparagus: An Ideal Early-Spring Vegetable

55. Selecting a Site for Strawberry Planting

56. Growing Your Best Carrots

57. The Benefits of Wide-Row Planting

58. Crops That Do Well in Wide Rows

59. Intercropping for Super Salad Greens

60. Successful Succession Planting

61. Raising Root Crops in Raised Beds

62. Making a Raised Bed

63. Add Organic Matter to Improve Difficult Soils

64. Putting Grass Clippings to Use

65. The Pros and Cons of Different Mulching Materials

66. Grow Your Own Mulch

67. Dividing Summer Bulbs

68. Growing Your Own Dill

69. Vegetable Responses to Transplanting

70. Nectar Plants for Hummingbirds, Butterflies, and Bees

71. Fertilizer by the Numbers

72. Approximate Composition of Natural Fertilizer Materials

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

73. 10 Essential Healing Herbs

74. Calendula-Infused Oil

75. Calming Chamomile Bath Bags

76. Echinacea-Root Tea

77. Baked Garlic

78. Ginger Tea

79. Lavender Toilet Water for Easing Headaches

80. Lovely Lemon-Lavender Sleep Pillow

81. Peppermint Inhalation

82. Good Night Tea

83. How to Use Valerian

HOME

84. Sandstone and Quartzite: Great Starter Stones

85. Finding a Source for Good Stone

86. Stone-Collecting Etiquette for Private Lands

87. Moving and Lifting Stone

88. Five Secrets for Success with a Drystone Wall

89. The Elusive “Perfect Fit”—How to Shape Stones for Walls

90. Working with Tie-Stones

91. Seven Secrets for Success with Mortar

92. How to Build a Hot Smoke Pit

93. Using a Hot Smoke Pit

Summer

Summer Solstices, 2008–2020

Summer Holidays (United States and Canada)

ANIMALS

94. Feeders for All

95. Bird Feeder Placement Tips

96. Custom Bird-Seed Mixes

97. Creative Bird Feeding

98. Peanut Butter-Log for Birds

99. Replenishing Trough Chicken Feeders

100. The Proper Way to Pick Up Your Rabbit

101. The Importance of Paddocks and Pastures

102. Is Your Puppy Afraid of the Stairs?

103. Testing Your Dog for Food Allergies

104. Giving Pills and Other Medicines to Your Pooch

105. Top 12 Rules for Training Cats

106. Teaching Your Cat to Fetch

107. Silent Hello

COOKING

108. Vegetables on the Grill

109. Storing Basil

110. Potato and Basil Gratin

111. Boursin at Home

112. Sugar Versus Honey

113. Honey Lemonade

114. Cooking with Rosemary

115. Rosemary–Lemon Verbena Tea Cake

116. What to Do with That Extra Zucchini

117. Shortcut Pickles

118. For the Best Quick Breads

119. Beer Quick Bread

120. Summer Vegetable Soup

121. Patriot’s Punch

122. Microwave Mint

123. Storage Guide for Fresh Vegetables

124. Country Dill Pickles

125. Pickle Problem Solving

126. Red Potato Salad with Kielbasa and Yogurt Dressing

127. Crystallized Violets

128. How to Clean and Fillet a Fish

129. Fish Cooking Tips

130. Fish Baked in Milk

CRAFTS

131. Uses for Aromatic Dried Herbs

132. Simple, Effective Moth-Chaser Sachets

133. Leaf-Stamped Stationery

134. Basic Nature Printing, Part 1 of 6

135. Basic Nature Printing, Part 2 of 6

136. Basic Nature Printing, Part 3 of 6

137. Basic Nature Printing, Part 4 of 6

138. Basic Nature Printing, Part 5 of 6

139. Basic Nature Printing, Part 6 of 6

140. Bubble Printing

141. Make a Pressed-Herb Window Ornament

142. Spicy Lemon-Verbena Potpourri

143. Mixed-Bag Potpourri

144. Uses for Potpourri

GARDENING

145. Tips for a Healthy Chive Harvest

146. Caring for Summer Bulbs

147. Planting Bare-Root Roses in 5 Easy Steps

148. Ten Steps to Beautiful Roses, Part 1 of 2

149. Ten Steps to Beautiful Roses, Part 2 of 2

150. Stopping Weeds

151. Getting Rid of Vine Weeds

152. Purple in a Pot

153. The Taming of the Slug

154. Rabbit-Proofing Your Garden

155. Discourage the Deer

156. Staking Tomatoes

157. Are Green Tomatoes Any Good?

158. Saving Tomato Seeds

159. Starting a New Hedge

160. How to Prune Trees

161. Pruning Large Tree Limbs

162. Sweet Corn Tip

163. The Right Way to Pick Strawberries

164. Harvesting from a Wide Row

165. The Myth of Weedy Manure

HEALTH AND FITNESS

166. Safety First

167. Essential Oils and Sun Exposure

168. Bee-Sting Care

169. Making Poultices and Plasters

170. Green Tea: Antioxidants in a Cup

171. Asian Fusion Tea

172. Natural Insect-Bite Ointment

173. Wilting Herbs

174. Making Infused Oils: The Sun Method

175. Making Infused Oils: The Stove-top Method

176. Sprain Pain Relief

177. Versatile Yarrow

HOME

178. How Much Water Is Enough

179. A Few Words on Water

180. Who’s the Trash Thief?

181. Making Your Own Building Mixes

182. How to Repair Screens

183. Quick Screen Fix

184. Patching Leaky Cracks in Basements, Part 1 of 2

185. Patching Leaky Cracks in Basements, Part 2 of 2

186. Poor Drainage: What Causes It?

187. Fix Sticking or Dragging Doors

Autumn

Autumnal Equinoxes, 2008–2020

Autumn Holidays (United States and Canada)

ANIMALS

188. Bird Identification

189. Know Your Bird Words

190. Save the Stalks

191. Dividing a Bee Colony

192. Swarm Control

193. The Run-in Shed

194. Different Uses for Different Horse Blankets

195. The Ideal Chicken Fence

196. Solving Common Dog Behavior Problems: Jumping Up on People

197. Teaching a Dog or Pup to Sit

198. Wholesome Honey Dog Treats

199. Treating Otitis Naturally

200. Tips to Save You from Cat Scratches

201. Hints for Breaking a Cat’s Biting or Scratching Habit

COOKING

202. Dry Your Own Mushrooms

203. Split Pea Soup

204. Cooking Older Vegetables

205. Sweet Onion Salsa

206. Need Just a Bit?

207. Peanut Brittle

208. Candy-Making Temperatures

209. Apple or Crab-Apple Jelly (Without Pectin)

210. Bathing Time for Canning

211. Pumpkin Soup

212. Converting Recipe Measurements to Metric

213. Apricot-Almond Bread

214. More Quick Tips for Quick Breads

215. Butchering and Curing Pork

216. Homemade Lard

217. Different Game for Different Tastes

218. Minimizing Strong Wild Game Flavors

219. Preparing a Game Bird

220. Preparing Small Game

221. Squirrel Skillet Pie

222. Boston Baked Beans

223. Thanksgiving Leftover Mash

CRAFTS

224. Apple-Print Gift Wrap

225. Apple-Cone Tree

226. Braiding Onions

227. Make Your Own Lavender-Scented Candles

228. Decorative Candle Wrapping

229. Choosing Quilt Fabrics

230. Tying a Quilt

231. Caring for Your Quilts

232. New England Bayberry Potpourri

233. Working with Grapevines to Make Wreaths

234. Make a Fall Bittersweet Wreath

235. Make a Teardrop Wreath

236. Quickie Spice Wreath

237. Miniature Tussie Mussies

238. Corn-Husk Dolls

GARDENING

239. Green Manure Crops

240. Keeping Your Garden Green

241. How to Plant Green Manures

242. Lucky Clover

243. Leaf Mold

244. Prep Hanging Perennials for Winter

245. Planting Tips for Spring-Flowering Bulbs

246. A Selection of Spring-Flowering Bulbs

247. Winter Care for Summer Bulbs

248. Growing Irish Potatoes in the Fall

249. Garlic: The Good Garden Neighbor

250. When to Plant Garlic

251. How to Plant Garlic

252. Test Soil in the Fall

253. Starting Onions from Seeds

254. A Postfrost Vegetable Harvest

255. More Cold-Weather Harvest Vegetables

256. Plan Ahead for In-Garden Vegetable Storage

257. Harvesting and Storing Carrots

258. Harvesting Squash

259. Storing Squash

HEALTH AND FITNESS

260. Making a Salve

261. Catnip: Not Just for Cats

262. Turnip-and-Honey Syrup to Soothe the Throat

263. Throat-Soothing Pastilles

264. Hints of Mint

265. Herbal Hair and Massage Oil

266. Why Use Natural Oils in Massage Blends?

267. Relaxing Foot Massage Oil

268. Step-by-Step Full-Body Massage, Part 1 of 2

269. Step-by-Step Full-Body Massage, Part 2 of 2

270. Basic Massage Strokes for Revitalization

HOME

271. Emergency Food Idea List

272. Bright Idea

273. Purifying Water

274. Cruising for Timber

275. Identify Your Timber Trees

276. Felling a Tree

277. Drying Firewood

278. How to Repair a Crack Around a Bathtub or Shower, Part 1 of 2

279. How to Repair a Crack Around a Bathtub or Shower, Part 2 of 2

280. Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Winter

Winter Solstices, 2008–2020

Winter Holidays (United States and Canada)

ANIMALS

281. Feeding Our Feathered Friends

282. Sweetening Suet for Bird Feed

283. Christmas-Tree Bird Feeder

284. Chickens: Cold-Weather Warnings

285. Buying Used Horse Tack

286. Caring for Leather Horse Tack

287. Paper-Training a Puppy

288. Teach Your Dog to Stay

289. “Catch of the Day” Dog Treats

290. Is Felix Fancy Free?

291. Ultrasimple Homemade Cat Bed

292. Keeping Cats off Clothing

COOKING

293. Types of Winter Squash

294. Squash or Pumpkin Cake

295. Sweet-Potato Pancakes

296. Tips for Cooking with Yogurt

297. Putting Yogurt to Use: Muffins

298. Putting Yogurt to Use: Hot Gravy for Roasts

299. Draining Whey from Yogurt

300. Turnips and Rutabagas

301. Vitamin Soup

302. The Perfect Roast Duck Dinner

303. Making Rolls

304. Cooking with Cranberries

305. Cranberry Butter

306. The Importance of Gluten

307. Tuscan Country Bread

308. “Real” Hot Cocoa

309. How to Butcher a Turkey or Other Poultry, Part 1 of 2

310. How to Butcher a Turkey or Other Poultry, Part 2 of 2

311. Roast Wild Goose

312. The Very Best Stuffing

313. Perfect Popcorn Balls for Eating or Tree Trimming

314. Gingerbread Men

315. Banana Eggnog

CRAFTS

316. Dipping Candles, Part 1 of 4

317. Dipping Candles, Part 2 of 4

318. Dipping Candles, Part 3 of 4

319. Dipping Candles, Part 4 of 4

320. Shaping Handmade Taper Candles

321. Candle-Dipping Frame Alternatives

322. Candlemaking Dos and Don’ts

323. Which Kind of Wick Is Best?

324. Wax-Spill Cleanup

325. Candle Storage Tips

326. Making Salt-Dough Jewelry

327. Make a Hammered Print T-shirt

328. Maine Woods Air Potpourri

329. Gingerbread House Tips

330. Texturing Tips for Gingerbread

331. Orange Pomander

332. Painted Holiday Bread

GARDENING

333. Protecting Roses for Winter

334. The Indoor Gardener

335. Homemade Planting Mixes

336. Growing Herbs Indoors

337. Potting Indoor Herbs

338. Nurturing Indoor-Grown Herbs

339. Potential Problems with Indoor-Grown Herbs

340. Growing Rosemary

341. Drying Herbs

342. Storing Dried Herbs

343. Planning a Vegetable Garden, Part 1 of 2

344. Planning a Vegetable Garden, Part 2 of 2

345. How Much Room Do Plants Need?

346. Consider Your Tools

347. Why Grow Plants from Seed?

348. Average Seed Storage Times

349. Start Onion Seeds Indoors

350. Planning Ahead: Transplant Timing

351. Construct a Barrel Composter

352. Activator: The Key to Compost

353. Recipe for Compost

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

354. Great Grains Facial

355. Relaxing Tea for Mothers and Babies

356. Stimulating Rosemary Bath

357. Adding Essential Oils to Baths

358. Children and Essential Oils

359. Easing Colds with Essential Oils

360. Aromatherapy Baths

361. Homemade Diaper-Rash Ointment

362. A Sure-Fire Warm-Up

363. Jet Lag Inhalation

364. New Year’s Cider Tonic

HOME

365. What Is a Cord?

366. Approximate Weights and Heat Values for Different Woods

367. Durability of Untreated Heartwood

368. How to Repair a Leaking Faucet

369. Draining Your Hot-Water Heater System

370. Thawing Frozen Pipes

371. Buying Country Land

372. How to Use a Hammer

373. Proper Use of a Handsaw

Appendix A: Typical Weather Across the United States

Appendix B: Produce Prevalence by Season

Appendix C: Annual Moon Phases

---