Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Old Farm Wives' Tale



Our horse chestnut tree is currently showing its' full glory of blossoms, a beautiful sight. While we admire the blooms, there are other benefits to this tree of which we've only recently become aware.

A local winery asked us if they could have the chestnuts that fall from the tree. They're not edible (as far as we know), so what possible use might they wish to make of them?


Apparently, they scatter them in the wine cellar to discourage spiders. I have no idea how this works, but we decided to use it in our home's crawl space. We hadn't had a big problem with spiders before, but last year we didn't see even one, with the addition of the chestnuts scattered in small piles here and there.

I can't promise you this will work in your home. I haven't conducted clinical trials or anything. But if you have spiders, and access to horse chestnuts, consider giving it a try.

Are there any "old wives' tales" (hate that term) that can't be readily explained, but that work for you?

3 comments:

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  2. Loved this article. Finally a remedy against spiders!

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  3. Thanks! Now if I could just find something to repel wasps...

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