September 15, 1988 - A Taste of Summer, Saved for WinterSeptember 15, 1988/The Suffolk Times/Page 11A
A Taste of Summer, Saved for Winter
By Paul Stoutenburgh
It's the time of year when you can see
forever. Fall brings the northwest wind
that travels over the land from the north
and therefore is dry and cool. It will
eventually turn into our winter wind
that won't be quite as easy on us, but
rather will be responsible for the cold of
winter. In the meantime, we'll be hav-
ing perfect days of fall with intermittent
flashbacks of summer and its southwest
wind that will bring some of the damp-
ness and humidity back to remind us of
these past few months. It's all part of
the changing seasons.To many this is
the best part of the year.
Fall, of course, is harvest time. It's a
time when nature has brought forth its
bounty of fruits, vegetables, grains,
nuts, etc., that will fatten the birds and
animals so they can make it through the
less bountiful days of winter. Already
the grey squirrels are gathering nuts and
storing them away in the ground. The
migrating birds are gorging themselves
with berries of all sorts, fattening
themselves for the long and often dan-
ger -laden migration south. Even our
eels, that live in the nearby waters, are
building up reserves of fat for their long
winter's sleep in the cold mud of our
creeks.
The Time is Ripe
In our garden the raspberries, peaches,
pears and apples are coming to fulfill-
ment. It's time for jam and jelly mak-
ing. Every other day Barbara and I pick
raspberries. We were able to hold them
by watering through the drought, and
with the last rain that came just in time
we've got a bountiful crop.
Barbara, with a basket hung low
around her neck, takes the outside where
no stickers can catch her, while I walk
with heavy pants through the center.
Raspberries do hinder you with their
stickers, but they're nothing like black-
berries that seem to almost jump out
and grab you with the most efficient
thorns of all. I know there's a variety of
blackberries without thorns but in my
opinion when you gain something like
a thornless blackberry you lose some-
thing in taste. So we stay with the old -
fashioned ones, uttering occasional
phrases when one grabs us as we're
picking.
Blackberry Jam our Favorite
The blackberries came in first and so
were converted into jam, my most fa-
vorite of all. Then, as I said, the rasp-
berries are now producing. We'll have
them for another month. Of course, not
as plentiful or as big as the first berries
but enough for cereal in the morning or
a dish for dessert.
Our peaches, I'm afraid, were not
taken care of as well as they should have
been and a fungus has invaded the fruit.
Each day I carefully go over the trees
and pick off the ones that have started to
go. It's the damaged ones that we bring
in, cut out the bad, and process for jam
along with some raspberries. What a
wonderful combination these two fruits
make when combined into jam. Of
course, we also make just raspberry or
peach, but the combination seems to
take the best out of both to give us a
superb taste.
This jam - making is a combined effort
usually and one that, when both work at
it, doesn't take long to make up a batch
or two. We even got into the old jell}
jars with the rubber gasket and heavy
Focus on
Nature
wire snap tops. Luckily when we
planted our orchard a wonderful old man
advised us as to what peaches to put in
and so we have early, mid - season and
late peaches. In that way we're not
overburdened all at one time with fruit.
The Best Time to Pick
I'm sure those who grow fruit can
vouch for the wonder of picking dead -
ripe fruit and tasting it right on the
spot. Raspberries, for instance, if picked
when dead -ripe almost fall off into your
hand. As a matter of fact, you have to
be careful when picking that you don't
bump the over -ripe fruit, for they'll drop
off before you can get them in your
basket. The same is true with peaches.
If left on the tree to become dead -ripe
they almost fall at your touch and, of
course, like all fruit if left alone will
fall to the ground as they mature. It's
then that the juices and flesh of the fruit
are the sweetest and it's then that I like
to pick and eat one of those spheres of
delight. There's nothing quite like it.
Our grapes are also fulfilling their
mission. This year I built an old -fash-
ioned arbor over them, and starting next
year they'll be trained up and over it.
It'll be a retreat where on hot but breezy
days we can go and relax. Anyway, I've
always wanted one and now it's up and
hopefully in the future will serve its
purpose. Here again I've tried to use
different varieties around the arbor so
that they will not all fruit at one time.
And with the wide variety of table
grapes that are now becoming available,
it'll be a great addition to our fruiting
garden.
In the wild I see black cherries drop-
ping all over our driveway, and to and
behold, the car that parks under them is
soon splattered. These little quarter- to
three- eights- inch - diameter berries are
made up mostly of pits but nevertheless
can be made into jams and jellies with a
little extra effort. Few people use them,
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
PERFECT PEACHES —The bounty of our land comes to fulfillment in
the fall. Fresh peaches blended with ripe raspberries make a very
special jam.
though, particularly when there are so
many other domestic fruits coming in at
the same time.
Winter Storage
Later as the fruit dries and weathers on
the ground, the pits will be cleansed and
ready for use by the mice in the area.
Often I've cleaned out my bird houses
and found their stores of cherry pits
there. This is their winter supply and if
the cleaning out is done in the spring
time I find the pits opened telling of
their rewards during the winter.
I haven't spoken of beach plums that
our south side is particularly blessed
with, but that will be taken up at an-
other time. The dunes from Montauk to
Fire Island are the best places to find
beach plums, but do be watchful and
careful of ticks when gathering them.
There are a few places on the north
shore, but nothing like the dunes of the
south side.
Once again I urge you to get out and
reap the bounty of harvest that is now
being produced on our island. Whether it
be your own backyard, a stop at a local
roadside stand or a trip to the nearest
"You Pick 'Em" spot, get out, collect,
prepare and preserve some of the fruits
of our land.
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