August 24, 1989 - Preserving Summer's Tastes for WinterB14 The Suffolk Times • August 24, 1989
Preserving Summer's Tastes for Winter
By Paul Stoutenburah
The changing seasons make life inter-
esting and if you are an observer of the
wonders about you, it can be a fascinat-
ing adventure every day as you observe
the changes taking place. A walk
through the garden reveals new fruits
and vegetables coming into maturity.
Even the grain in the farmers' fields,
like most seeds of grass, has ripened and
Focus on
Nature
is being harvested. Some varieties of
potatoes have started to yellow and die
back and others have already been dug.
Our East End, like other parts of the
country, is getting ready for harvest
time, which tells us summer is almost
over.
Years ago, this period was a busy
time around the homestead as everyone
who could work helped prepare for the
winter ahead. Crops were harvested and
stored, fruits and vegetables were put
up, meats were smoked, honey was
drawn, cider was pressed and an endless
array of survival chores was done so the
family could make it through the
months ahead.
Few people experience this busy and
critical time of preparation anymore.
The demise of farming and the ease of
the supermarket have changed that link
of living close to the land and, I sup-
pose, in the long run, most would say
it is all for the good. Yet there are those
who still think some of the best days
were those early times when living
wasn't quite so sophisticated. I guess
it's why some of us still cling to the
remnants of that self - sufficient period.
Orchard Full of Fruit
Our small orchard is bursting with
fruit. The apples are starting to redden
and some varieties of peaches have al-
ready been picked for eating. The pears
still have some growing to do while
some varieties of grapes are starting to
color. The late raspberries have started
to ripen, which means Barbara has al-
ready started canning and preserving.
First it was the blackberry jam, then
raspberry and now, I hope, her best —
peach and raspberry. This is a great
combination, as I have mentioned be-
fore. Of course, there'll be some
peaches that will have to go into
"yellow jam," which our grandson calls
IV
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
PEACHES — Fresh - ripened peaches are one of the canned, they make a winter treat that reminds one of
East End's great rewards. Put up in preserves or warmer times.
his favorite.
It's a busy time with steaming pots
and sparkling -clean jelly jars with their
new lids all lined up on the counter.
Then later the messy jam - colored pots
lie about the sink just waiting for a fin-
ger- licking taste.
Finally it's cleanup time and the
kitchen once again will take on its nor-
mal appearance. But something catches
your eye — a cluster of freshly filled,
capped jars with their delicious contents
showing through. Then I'll take what's
left over to the chickens so they, too,
can enjoy a touch of the past.
So it will be when the apples become
ripe. Again steaming pots of cut -up ap-
ples will eventually find their way to
the cone - shaped press and that wooden
pestle that is worked round and round to
squeeze out the last bit of goodness,
leaving only the skin and seeds behind.
Sometimes we put this newly squeezed
applesauce up in jars and sometimes we
just fill baggies with the oozing con-
tents and freeze it. It all depends on how
full the freezers are.
For those who grew tomatoes this
UMB
t
- RESTAURANT L`
Summer Dining
at the
Rhumb Line
Light meals when it's too hot
for heavy dining.
Fresh broiled seafood
Cold platters • Pasta salads
Frozen drinks
Open seven days a week.
Located in downtown Greenport
34 FRONT STREET, GREENPORT • 477 -8883
year I venture to say you can never re-
member a season when tomatoes came
in so late. The summer was almost over
before we got any vine - ripened tomatoes
and I'm afraid that from here on we'll be
flooded with these red, juicy fruits. Here
again, as with the applesauce, we put
them up in various ways. Lately our
freezers have been filled to capacity.
I can't remember a year when a bag of
potatoes was not out in the garage or
down in the cellar where they were con-
tinually drawn upon for meals through-
out the winter. There were times when
the farm out back grew potatoes and we
were allowed to harvest the leftovers.
After the farmers dug and picked the
potatoes up with his combine the fam-
ily would go out and gather the little
potatoes that dropped through the digger
chain.
Potatoes Out of Control
When remembering the potatoes that
were our staple years ago I can recall
my prudent mother keeping a sharp eye
on how they were keeping. If they
started to grow she would rub off the
chits so they would keep a little longer.
However, if she forgot, they would
grow and work their way right through
the burlap bag, as if they were trying to
reach the sky.
No, I guess I wouldn't want to go
back to the days when the farm was
self - sufficient. It was a hard life, one in
which the. wife worked as hard as the
husband to keep ihings going. It's diffi-
cult for us to imagine that in the life-
times of some still living today the
luxury of inside plumbing and electric-
ity was born. We still have an old
kerosene lamp from that era that we
keep for emergencies. Its soft yellow
light gives us, on those rare occasions
when put to use, an inkling as to how
it used to be.
Today most of us live in what kings
and queens of yesteryear would have en-
vied. A whole new generation has
grown up not knowing the difficult road
their ancestors had to tread in order to
get where we are today. It's too bad, for
if they could touch that experience, per-
haps — and only perhaps — they would
have a better appreciation of the world
around them and what they have.
die Birdvatcher s Companion
yEmrything for the Birder'
• Bird Feeders • Field Guides • Bird Baths • Carvings
• Bird Houses • Seed • Binoculars • Gifts
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10.5, Sunday 12 -5 • Closed Wednesday
North Road, (County Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872
765 -5247
NORA FORT(
WATERFRONT
CONTRACTORS? INC.
We handle all your waterfront needs — commercial and residential