01 *RESCAN October 11, 1979 - FALL IS HERESEC'C)NU SECTION ZIJC li f4.0
ALL IS HERE
us on
a
r
Fang Stokstonburgh
This Saturday was one of those days you
could take all 365 days a year. Fall was
everywhere with its crisp, clean air. The
color in the leaves and the bounce in your
walk confirmed you had fall fever. The city
folks were out on their annual pilgrimage
for pumpkins and fall vegetables and the
election campaigners were around shaking
new hands.
Most of the great flocks of swallows had
already moved through and in their place
the small groups of robins and blue jays
were moving west. As 1 sit on my patio in the
late afternoon sun one of those typically
confusing fall warblers visits the bird bath,
only to drink and move on to the busy job of
feeding Without that all- important buildup
of energy, this tin }, bird would never make
the next leg on his long journey south.
The garden by now looks more like a
corner vacant lot. It's completely taken over
by heeds. The mulch that slid so much
through most of lie year has all but
disappeared in the !nail of green growth.
it's nalore's; s0010 of reverting its own way.
My garden, left alone, would soon he taken
over by shrubs and, as time passed, trees.
Succession of plants never stands still.
'l'he.lerusalein art es tell where they
were planted, for Ihey Iower aver every -
thing with their bright yellow blossoms atop.
Chickadees Maid Sunflower Seeds
Where nn, :;nnflow'ers Blond so bravely
cad so alert all summer, only the stalks are
tell "they were beheaded by me and hung in
the 1100g( to dry. This was a fruitless
venlnr'e, for they were soon sough) out by
the rhicicaclecs ;Intl by now are completely
ravaged. II was as hopeless as Iryinf? to hide
cheese from a n111se, and This war; Itic year
I was going t o heal the high cost of sunflower
sc•ecls I,onlcs as‘if I'll he haying seeds again
this year
Another ,;Ire sign of fall around our home
is the last gathering of honey from our bees.
it :;hound have been done 11 lot sooner, but 1
scene to gel involved in first one thing and
then another, and then, lo lop it the rains
came. At any rate a good warm clay like
Friday gave me the opportunity to don my
bee outfit, which consists of an old camou-
flage jumpsuit, long canvas gloves and a
veiled hat. With all this, plus my smoker to
pacify the bees, 1 was ready to open the
hives.
it was hot work in those heavy garments,
b0l they prevented that stinger from reach-
ing my skin and in the end f got my share of
the combs out and left enough honey for the
bees to survive the winter. After all, they
had worked hard to get'that crop in and each
hive needs about 40 -50 pounds of honey for
the winter. Once that job was done it has to
be spun so the honey would leave the comb.
A good friend of mine has that sort of
equipment and so with his kind help we spun
and bottled about 70 pounds of honey. How
thankful we are for the bees.
,. All around us. whether it's out in the back
pasture, in the open fields along the road, or
along the seashore, we see the fall flowers
doing their last bit to celebrate the harvest
season. Asters of every shade and size from
white to purple can be found. Even in the
woodland trails there are shy, dainty asters,
and should you be out on any of our great
salt marshes and look closely, you will find
the rare and beautiful marsh aster. I don't
pretend to know all their names because
the' o are so many, and like with the
goldenrods, i soon get confused.
Goldenrod flay Feverless
The gold, ncod. i'. hich does not give hay
fever by thr way. col !ns in many sizes and
sha(!:'s Tha one 1 lit; ' host is the rugged
seaside ;ocianro;i with its tough leathery
leaf :;:!r; Bleat, ;tnad. lutge yellow flower.
From 1i1is :1(:1(1 There a1'^ many in- between
sizes anti 011,100. Until we get to the
slender-leaved that has a rather
small fic!I anti incor:.spiruuus flower head.
Another interesting yellow flower that's
been hiossoining in our damper areas is the
jewelweed of touch -me -not. This succulent
plant sometimes grows as hit;i! ;is six to
eight feet it hes a most inlerc fang speck- -
led. trumpat -lilie flower. it's called touch-
!:(e-not ecnca > MICt1 you (ouch the ripened
seed co,-.1 it ht sis and scatters the seeds
"e s.. as so?.r a_ yet have experienc-
ed this when you've touched the seed pod of
the related houseplant called impatiens.
Healing Properties Claimed
The name jewelweed comes from the fact
that tiny droplets of dew or rain, gathered on
the leaf, look like tiny jewels and, should you
put the leaf under water, you get a similar
effect. Besides these interesting virtues,
I've been told the plant has healing proper-
ties for those affected by poison ivy. They
say when the stem is broken and rubbed on
the infected area it will soothe the itching :I
know some who lake the juice, after
blending the leaves and stem with water,
and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then no
matter what time of year you can take the
ice cube and use it as you would the plant.
Doesn't sound like a had idea.
And so fall surely has arrived and it's time
for all of us to plan ahead for the coming
season. As the squirrel puts up his nuts and
builds a tighter tree -top nest, so we must
start preparing and tightening up our homes
for the winter winds that will surely come.
Lich again is reminded that we are just
part of the great cycle of things that makes
us all adhere and play the game of survival.
Hies OCTOBER 11, 1979
TOUCIi -ME -NOT -- Should you touch the ripened seed pods
shower the seeds about giving it its name, Touch -Me -Not.
of this plant it will burst ana
Photo by Paul Stollten tun'igh
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