Dear Reena: About 10 days ago, I purchased a bouquet of flowers from a market. The clerk wrapped them in heavy black poster-type paper. The stems were quite wet and seeped through the paper, resulting in stains on my white denim jacket.
As soon as I got home, I washed it with plain water, and have also tried hair shampoo and quite a few commercial stain removers, including one containing hydrogen peroxide. I dried it outside in the sun. The stains faded quite a lot but are still visible as a faint charcoal colour. I’m not sure what I should try next.
Shirley
Often running hot water through tough fabrics such as denim will cause organic stains to disappear. Unfortunately, sometimes trying several commercial products on a stain will set the stain.
The good news is that you haven’t put the jacket in the dryer, and the stain has lightened. Make a paste of water and one of the following: Head & Shoulders Dandruff shampoo, glycerin, Sunlight detergent bar soap, washing soda or borax. Leave for a few hours and wash as usual, being careful not to put the jacket into the dryer until you are sure that the stain is gone. Worst case scenario, purchase Rit Dye Remover or white Rit dye and use it according to the directions on the box.
Dear Reena: Can you please give me some advice on how to prevent rabbits from entering and eating my garden?
Bruce
Here are some ideas that worked for contributors in the past:
• If possible, construct a two-foot-high chicken wire fence. Bury the fence a few inches into the ground because rabbits are more likely to climb under the fence than hop over it.
• Surround the garden with milk jugs lined with sand. The idea is that the rabbits will chew on the jugs instead of your plants.
• Suspend aluminum pie plates around plants to keep rabbits away.
• Sprinkle one of the following around plants or shrubs; bags of human hair (from your local hair salon), blood meal, fox urine, bone meal or Irish Spring soap shavings.
• Add turkey manure in with soil.
• Homemade Rabbit Repellent: Into a spray bottle mix 1 Tbsp. baby shampoo, 1 Tbsp. household ammonia and one-quart water. Spray plants every three days.
• Soak corn cobs in vinegar for five minutes and then place them throughout the garden or under shrubs. Re-soak the corn cobs after two weeks.
• When planting flower beds, mix thyme, spearmint, daffodils and/or eucalyptus in with flowers. Rabbits don’t like the smell and often won’t pass by to get to your yummy flowers.
• Some people had success with burying fabric softener sheets around plants.
• Around newly planted vegetables, bury a collar cut out of a milk carton or jug to protect each plant.
• Fill mason jars three-quarters full of water. Add a drop of dish soap to each jar. Line jars along garden, one to two feet apart, and place on top of foil pie plates. The water reflects the sun off the jar and the foil, and scares rabbits.
• An ultrasonic repeller emits a high-pitched noise that humans are unable to hear, but is uncomfortable for animals such as dogs, cats, deer, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, skunks, bats, rodents and squirrels. Study the best unit for your yard, as some are ineffective.
Hints for Storing Apples
• If you are planning to store apples for an extended period, wrap each unwashed apple individually with a piece of newspaper and store inside a box, in a cool dark place such as the basement, refrigerator or your pantry. The newspaper is intended to prevent apples from touching, thereby protecting each apple.
• Bruised apples should not be stored for longer than a few days. Either use them right away or make them into apple cider, apple pie filling or applesauce. If the apples are to be eaten within a few days, store them in the fridge away from carrots and potatoes.
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