Practical Matters

Country Solutions
Homemaking is not the full-time occupation it used to be, many of us prefer to get out and about and minimise chores to bare necessities. Who wants to spend all day cleaning, when you could be enjoying yourself? You may have all the latest gadgets and products, but two handy books from the Country Living team aim to show you how to get back to basics and save time with some age-old advice.

Household Wisdom and Garden Wisdom were published in September and bring you colourful ideas, as well as exploring traditions and quirky facts and figures. We’ve picked out some of the useful gems contained in the books (published by Collins & Brown, priced £4.99) to inspire you to write in with some pearls of wisdom of your own…

Food & Drink:
Follow the example of the best chefs and keep your tomatoes in a bowl on the kitchen counter rather than in the fridge – this retains, and even improves, the flavour.

Store bananas separately from other fruit as the gas they give off as they ripen shortens the life of the other fruit.

Blackcurrants are very rich in vitamin C and provide an effective remedy for sore throats. For a soothing drink, dissolve a spoonful of blackcurrant jam in a cupful of hot water.

Mix together a cupful each of fine oatmeal and ground almonds. Place the mixture in the middle of a square of cotton, bring the corners together and tie securely. Hang the bundle over the hot tap so that the water runs through it into your bath. The water will turn milky and feel very, very soft.

Cleaning:
There is something very reassuring about the smell of polish… rather than smothering every surface with far too much of the stuff, keep a can of good quality aerosol polish at hand and simply spray it in the air after you’ve dusted.

Soak a clean duster in a strong detergent solution and allow it to dry without rinsing it out. Wipe over clean windows with the duster and they will remain clear even in the steamiest of kitchens.

Use a soft cloth to gently apply metal polish to a polished [wooden] surface which has been damaged by a heat or water mark. This will not work where the wood itself has been damaged.

Gardening
To remove rust from the blades of secateurs, loppers or any other metal tools, rub with a scouring pad dipped in lighter fuel.

To get rid of rosette-forming weeds on a lawn – dandelion, plantain, daisy – carefully tip a teaspoon of salt into the centre of each cluster of leaves. This will kill the plant.

Always cut flowers in the early morning, when moisture and sugar content are high. Take a bucket of water with you into the garden and immerse the stems as soon as they are cut.

Dear Modern & Mature...

Use nutshells as "crocks" in the bottom of flowerpots.

Instead of buying fibre pots for planting seedlings, use cardboard egg boxes filled with soil or peat.

I find the cardboard rolls around which tin foil is wrapped come in useful for posting pictures or posters or other papers that would be spoiled by folding.

Self adhesive wall hooks will stay firmly in place if you coat the sticky surface with nail varnish before putting them up.

You'll find it much easier to grate a lemon if you run the grater under a cold water tap immediately beforehand.

Mrs H. Wood, North Yorkshire

Send your tips to: M&M Tips, PA Editorial Centre, Central Park, New Lane, Leeds, LS11 5DZ. or email: tips@modernandmature.co.uk