Home briefs: New painting tools make work go faster

Spring for some means time to paint the house for a fresh look inside and out.

Time-challenged painters will like Black & Decker's new painting products — PaintStick, QuickPainter and Deluxe Paint Sprayer.

The PaintStick ($24.99), a long-handled paint roller, lets you draw paint directly from the can into the stick handle in just seconds — no tray needed.

A single fill paints an 8-foot-square area without reaching, bending or climbing a ladder. Snap on the splatter shield, and you can paint ceilings without getting paint on you.

QuickPainter ($14.99) trims and edges without messy drips. It, too, draws paint directly from the can into the handle. It comes with strategically placed wing guides that allow you to fly along trim edges with no worry of messing up. To clean up, fill the unit with water and flush it out.

The Deluxe Paint Sprayer ($120) applies one gallon of paint in about 12 minutes, saving you time and strain.

Use the sprayer for walls, ceilings and for intricate projects like wicker furniture, louvered shutters, lattice, fences and sealers.

The tools are available at select Sears, Ace hardware stores and other home-improvement outlets.

Your name in lights

Make a statement in the living room with a fireplace grate crafted in the family's surname.

This one is made from heavy-duty steel with 2 ¼-inch-tall letters. It costs $119.98 from Lillian Vernon, 800-901-9402, or at www.lillianvernon.com.

Gardening the

old-fashioned way

When intensive, raised-bed gardening came into vogue, Steve Solomon was all for it.

Now he has a different idea.

Solomon advocates returning to old-fashioned methods of growing food in "Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times" (New Society Publishers, $19.95).

The book isn't meant just for the struggling or destitute, but for the great numbers of us who Solomon predicts will be affected by rising oil prices and the resulting decline in Americans' buying power.

Solomon argues that traditional plots require less water and fertilizer and produce better-tasting crops than raised beds filled with closely spaced plants. His book guides people through all the processes involved in gardening the old-fashioned way, from choosing good seeds and maintaining tools properly to saving seeds for next year's garden.

Compiled from the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), Akron Beacon Journal and Newsday