Old-Time Country Wisdom and Lore for Hearth and Home

Tired of using potentially toxic cleaners, personal care items like soap and shampoo that have been tested on helpless animals? Tires of the plastic waste you generate with every product you buy ? This fascinating guide shows you other options; by making things you need yourself, you cut down on waste, protect the environment and save yourself some money in the process. Entertaining as well as informative, this is a book for those who remember the Foxfire series or a new generation of those who want to make do and mend

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Such a great book! I'm so happy I got this book

Old Time Country Wisdom and More for Hearth & Home

A book that will bring back memories of the ones you used to see on your Grandmas/ Grandpa's bookshelf.
A great country how- to title, chock full of great little remedies and problem solvers from before the time you could have a quick Google to find the solution to your problem. Also contains some good old fashioned recipes as well.
A keeper.

I love this type of book, always find them fascinating. This book was a pleasant read, informative and I loved the illustrations.
It was a bit hard to read in electronic format and I think I will buy a paper copy.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I absolutely loved this book, full of so many of the ideas I remember my granny sharing with me as a youngster. Can’t wait to try out some of the tips, from dyes to cakes and home brew. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.

Reading this brought back so many memories of my childhood & the things my Grandmother swore by. Love how they're written, very useful & informative

As you can imagine this isn't a pickup and read it all at once, kind of book, it's recipes and tips on how to live successfully in a traditional, simple way. I found the recipes easy to follow, though I haven't made any yet, and enjoyed having written instructions I can follow for things like canning, making shampoo, how to work with different fabrics and herbs, etc. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I'll definitely be keeping it on the shelf. As others have reviewed, this is not to be kept or read in place of basic medical help or especially in times of emergency if you have access to 911, but it's awesome for immediate knowledge if you are out camping or whatever until you can get help from 911.

What fun! This book contains nostalgia and charm in spades, including scores of practical and impractical tips and fascinating tidbits of information about health cures, cleaning, pest control, making dye colours, leather tanning, mounting snakeskins, gravestone rubbing, making adobe clay bricks and drying foods. The goal is to simplify life by using organic cures and remedies, though many "recipes" aren't exactly simple to create.

Though I will not make hair dye or fingernail paste, I would make the rosemary-lavender shampoo. Using hot hedgehog fat for hearing loss doesn't seem terribly practical. If you have plantain leaf juice on hand, you could heal snake bites. Loose tooth? Myrrh may be your answer. Have some quicklime lurking in your closet? There are uses for that. Next time you churn your butter, add baking soda and alum to prevent it from melting in the heat. Many of these tips are tongue in cheek, others were actually used in times past, as silly as they may seem now. Several of the recipes do look tasty (my grandma used to make Grandma's Cracklings Sausage and Taffy which we loved but we disliked headcheese) and several cleaning tips would work.

This book is great to dip in and out of and would be wonderful to give to those yearning for times past.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this delightful book!

How much fun is this book? I love reading books that give you hints and tips especially if they talk about the old times and how things used to be done.

Although it is mostly things we wouldn't use in today's society it gives an insight into how things have been done and you still get some good tips and ideas from it. But best of all it does evoke memories of days gone by and stories of my parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents days.

Loved the addition of the artwork as this made it feel even more old-fashioned and gave the book a bit of personality. It is fun, it is insightful and it is history.

It's a long way from gathering your own pot pourri to doing some home tanning, and making your own leathers. But this book takes it. I am sure many people are aware of the connection between newspapers and a nice, clean window, and how to spruce up a saucepan with rhubarb leaves, but there is also a heck of a lot here that is on the less common side. Outside the kitchen, we swing from calculating paint usage for our intended area, to making our own wallpaper. This is very much on the encyclopaedic scale, as opposed to the trivia gift book, with pages crammed with text, despite the many spot illustrations and other design elements breaking up the potential visual monotony. I think as a result it will be more suited as a reference/curiosity book for history buffs. That said, if you have the urge to make piano polish, who am I to stop you?! Oh, but before you think this far too esoteric – it has a sourdough starter, too.

Certainly the people who have swamped it with negative write-ups due to it including guff of the highest order in lieu of echt medical advice just have not got the point of it. We honestly did all believe that kind of guff, once upon a time and in one corner of the world or another. Get over it.

I enjoy vintage, heirloom cookbooks, so was excited to read this one. It has some wonderful, quaint wisdom and includes some interesting historical tidbits (such as the origin of cheese, how to make ink, and pest control). The book is illustrated with cute, period pictures like one might find in early American catalogs and is arranged more or less by subject. However, as a bread baker I have to give the sourdough recipe the verbal side eye. Sourdough starter is only flour, water, and time. You do not need to add yeast to it as it accumulates naturally from the air, and you definitely don't need to add sugar to a loaf of bread, unless you are doing it strictly for the taste, and the baking soda is an unnecessary leavening agent. The book also doesn't address the effects of weather on proofing times (18 hours at 80 or 85 degrees is going to to give you wildly overproofed dough). This throws a lot of the subsequent information into question. However, if you're feeling adventurous and want a "cottage arts" style book to experiment with (while taking the information contained within with a grain of salt) I think this would be a great addition to someone's kitchen library. I give it 4 stars because even though I can't speak to the veracity of the information, it was still an enjoyable read and provided plenty for someone to start building their own country wisdom from.

Filled full of wonderful almanac information. Many old school hacks that I never heard of until now.

I’ve always been a sucker for home remedies, and this book is full of them. Along with instructions for canning, quilt making, rug making, meat preserving, etc. It is an excellent resource, whether your goal is to be self-sustaining or merely learning more about how your grandparents (or great+ grandparents) did things. Some suggestions are humorous, and make it clear why the author included a disclaimer, such as applying a live frog to the throat of an asthma sufferer. But I am already planning to increase my garlic consumption, oil a cloth, and try my hand at crocheting a rug using fabric scraps. #OldTimeCountryWisdomandLoreforHearthandHome #NetGalley

What an intriguing and interesting book. I'm likely to try some of the ideas in it, but some I will be a little sceptical about - times and knowledge having moved on.
The book is laid out with images to support the text and it is structured so that it can be used as a manual of sorts, if you wish.
It's the sort of book that you would have as a reference on your bookcase, especially if, like me, you prefer to find old, traditional ways of doing things.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It's full of great tips and ideas! I found it very helpful.

Old-Time Country Wisdom and Lore for Hearth and Home is a volume in a series of republished and collated Old Farmer's Almanac type tips and folklore from the 1970s. Originally released in the 70's, this re-release from Quarto on their Voyageur Press imprint 12th Oct 2021 is 176 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a wide-ranging collection of "Old Farmer's Almanac" type of wisdom and trivia. The tips and tricks are very roughly arranged thematically: hearth and home (cleaning and general info) and the country table (food prep & handling).

There are some hair-raisingly scary "tips" and observations included here and they are blended willy-nilly with old wives & farmers tales without regard to the veracity of any of the claims. In fact, the publisher states quite clearly in the disclaimer that "Any recipes or “health cures” are intended as a historical reference only. They are NOT recommended by the editors or publisher of this book. They have been compiled as a historical narrative for historical purposes only. The publisher assumes
no responsibility whatsoever for any injury or damage resulting from reader’s use of any of the material or information contained in this book".

The graphics are simple with old fashioned monochrome illustrations and line drawings throughout. This would be a good selection for the smallholder's winter home library reading, allotments, fans of old farmer's almanac type publications, and similar. I would go so far as to suggest its usefulness for historical research and background context for authors, historical re-enactors, etc. This is *not* a book to be followed or used as a reference to any degree.

Three and a half stars. It's of limited practical use, but will be enjoyed by people who remember the old almanacs fondly.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book would appeal to anyone who found the descriptions of Ma making cheese in Little House in the Big Woods fascinating, or for a modern reference point anyone who enjoys watching Bernadette Banner's YouTube channel This book is not intended to be a guidebook per se, as many of the recipes and remedies have an attached caveat that they are for historical reference only. But it was interesting to read the recipe for the cure for "Fits" and that the cure for dirt in the eye was to put a flax seed in it to absorb the dirt. The history of the origins and introduction of what came to be common household items is peppered throughout the book. The book is not an appropriate reference item for sustainable living but is a representation of historical methods of housekeeping.

Perfect for homesteaders, DIYers or anyone looking for an eccentric coffee-table book. I was thinking this was a cookbook but it has so much more than recipes! Rural remedies, cleaning guides, how to tan leather, and so much more. All laid out like an old-time catalog with vintage photos.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a pre-release of this book. My review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.