Loading...
May 21, 1987 - Busting Out All OverBusting Out All Over By PAUL STOUTENBURGH For those of us who have boats, these are busy days. Engines are being tuned up, lines and tackle gone over, sails checked, a new piece of equipment added and, of course, the annual painting of the bottom are all parts of the world of boating. It lasts about a week around our place and then it's into the water and the grime and work are forgotten for another year. We on the East End were so short - changed by the weather this spring that everyone is working like crazy to get caught up on the lost days. But then there are always two sides to every story. The other side of the rainy weather is the explosion of flowering trees, bushes and plants that, surrounded by a lush green, seems to have taken over almost overnight. The horse chestnuts along the road are flowering with their tall upright spears that make this tree one of the handsomest of flowering trees. It's a tree all kids knew when they were young -- when the ripe brown nuts started to fall we were always there to pick up the treasures and hoard them in our pockets. The husks left behind are sometimes not appreciated by those who live around the trees, but when you think of the flowers and the shade and those rich brown chestnuts, the inconveni- ence of the spiny husks is well worth it. Sometimes we took the brown nuts and carved faces on them like jack -o- lanterns and, of course, we boys would mimic our dads by whittl- ing the center out and attaching it to a stick in the form of a pipe. Those were creative days. All Trees Have Blossoms All trees blossom in some shape or manner but many are hardly noticed. Even the oak with its long garlands of greenish flowers is quite hand- some when closely examined. My Japanese black pines that rim the pasture will later have flowers laden with pollen. It's always fun to blow across the flower's head and see the great billows of pollen drift away. This is nature's way of reproduc- ing. Windblown pollen which some- times gives us the sniffles is abso- lutely essential in the propagation of many plants. The red swamp maple down at our pond is almost past its reddish glow and is now starting to form the familiar maple seed pods that all kids know. Remember how we'd split them and put them on our nose or watch them as we threw handfuls in the air and let them spin like propellers to the ground? The rhododendrons around the house are bursting their swollen buds to give us a mass of spectacular flowers. Cut one short right under the flower and lay it in a shallow bowl on your table. One blossom so displayed can often match the largest bouquet. Most of the pears, apples and peaches in our little orchard have finished blossoming so now it's time again to start spraying. As much as I dislike the idea of using pesticides, I Focus on Nature cannot raise fruit without spraying. The way to do it is to be very selec- tive and careful. I have bees and keep the hives right in the orchard. If I'm not selective and spray when the blossoms are out, I'll kill my bees, so during blossoming time we don't spray. Then it's every 10 days to keep the crawling critters in line. Time for Barbecues With the recent good weather the outside world has become summer - like and we had our first outdoor bar- becue with family and friends. It was the usual smoky grill with hambur- gers and sausages on rolls, salads of all sorts, pickles, chips, and, of course, beer and soft drinks. The party was going along fine, everyone eating and chatting as families do when they get together, when I saw a large black bird flying low over- head. Well, party or no party, I had to investigate this unusual visitor. My son and two others also caught a glimpse of it as it passed by so we all rushed to a car in hot pursuit for a definite identification. It looked like a turkey vulture, but vultures are very uncommon here on Long Island. We see them in Connec- ticut, on the mainland down through New Jersey and on into the south, but for some unknown reason hardly ever on Long Island. Some think they don't like to cross the water and thereby, like everyone else, must enter our island from the west. We headed for an open spot where we could see the horizon and sure enough, the vulture was still flying, but by this time it was being haras- sed by a couple of seagulls. I thought to myself, Could this be one of the reasons vultures don't like Long Is- land? For we surely have a surplus of seagulls. We had brought binocu- lars along and we could now identify it positively as a turkey vulture. We have two basic vultures along the East Coast -- the turkey vulture which is the most common, and the black vulture. They're masters of the thermals they soar on. Often you'll see them high in the sky, circling endlessly as they get higher and higher. Vultures can be identified from hawks by their bare heads and the turkey vulture by its high dihed- ral (shallow V) of its wings when gliding. They eat nothing but carrion which we usually see along the road as a result of some unfortunate rab- bit or raccoon being hit by a car. They never kill an animal, but are always there for the feast once one dies. If you watch television you may have seen them in Africa where they are much more common than here. Whether it's getting boats in the water, enjoying a barbecue or putter- ing in the garden, spring always seems to be the busiest time of the year. But then again, I guess we wouldn't want it any other way. Everyone Reads The Suffolk Times and the News - Review 'Th6 80610firnes %May 21, 1987 /0age 9A Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh HORSE CHESTNUT BLOSSOM -- Although not a native of North America, this immigrant from southern Europe is common along our roadsides and lawns, and is one of the best and most beautiful shade trees. Friar's Head Farm H.R. Talmage and Son 36 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY (I mile ;vest of Roanoke Ave.) 12" Ivy Geranium 71/2 „ Hanging Baskets Patio 'I MEMORIAL Geraniums WEEK SPECIAL GREAT FOR $8.00 • Whiskey Barrels • Patio Pots • Pool Sides LONG ISLAND'S LARGEST PROPAGATOR OF GERANIUMS We also stock: perennials • annuals • vegetables • assorted hanging baskets • herbs • 4'/2" geraniums • groundcovers OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK • HOURS: 10 AM TO 5:30 PM