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December 03, 1998 - Fall's coming to its bittersweet endSA • The Suffo;k Times •- December 3, 1998 Fall's coming to its bittersweet end Have your impatiens been hit by frost as yet? Ours have. They blossomed beautifully for us all summer but their tender vascular leaves can't take Jack Frost's wrath. On the other hand, our geraniums Focus seem to thrive in ON this cool, crisp weather along NATURE with the mums by Paul that are the true Stoutenburgh harbingers of our fall weather. They'll hold out till a heavy killing frost moves in. If you really want to see what the firsvtouch of frost can do, visit the vegetable garden. There tomatoes and peppers lie prostrate, dead and with- ered, a far cry from the lush green vines of only a short time ago. We picked a few of our green toma- toes and peppers to make our tradi- tional fall relish. About every other year we make up a batch of this yummy relish from the last of the garden. Seeing the deer devastated almost everything we planted, we had to resort to the Krupskis' farm to fill out our green tomato needs. Then, with our old- fashioned meat grinder set up on the outside picnic table, I ground up tomatoes, peppers, onions and cabbage to make a big pot of raw ingredients. Then Barbara took this mass of pulp and added her own special spices, sugar and vinegar and set it on the wood stove to cook. The steaming pot filled the kitchen with an aroma only green tomato relish can create. Jars were washed and sterilized, then filled with the scalding -hot relish. With the red rubber seals in place, the tops were screwed on and left to cool. Then all we had to do was wait for the signal of pop- ping tops as the vacuum inside the jars told of a successful seal. Fifteen jars now line the shelves in the cellarway awaiting their eventual consumption. This and the seemingly never - ending raking of leaves have kept us pretty close to home. We thought we had the leaf situation under control, that is, until the last rain and high winds. We awoke to find our tidy lawn had been given a new layer of leaves. Where did they come from? I'm not sure if this last coating is going to get our attention right away. Maybe future winds will blow them away. At any rate, we're holding off further raking until we feel less hostile toward leaves in general. Northern visitors return Along with the first frost and cooler weather came our first winter visitors, the juncos, or as some call them, the snowbirds, along with the white- throated sparrows. They are starting to show up under our feeders. Being ground feeders they enjoy the surplus that spills over from above and can usually be found scratching and gleaning the leftovers. Juncos are easily recognized by their slate -gray coats and white underbodies. Another good identification mark is the white- tipped tail when they take flight. Look for them in small groups on the ground and along the woods and path edges, where they are search- ing for fallen seeds. The rea- son we don't see them except in the winter is that they breed to the north or in the cooler parts of the country. I once found a nest of juncos in the Catskill Mountains. It was neatly hidden on the bank of a farm road. As luck would have it, I didn't have my camera — a cardinal sin. The white- throated sparrow is an easy one to identify for, as the name implies, it has a clear white throat. On young birds this is sometimes not easily recognized. Its song typifies the deep cool forest of the north where it breeds. Its sweet song, "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody," is a call you'll never forget. Of course, there are other visitors that will trickle in from the north as winter moves in, but these two are probably the most common and most recent arrivals. Our feeders attract the usual visitors. The chickadee, the white - breasted nuthatch and the titmouse are our reg- ulars along with the house finch and house sparrows that are always grub- bing for their share; both seem to trav- el in small groups. The bluejays and cardinals have their own little clans. The jays always are the noisiest of the flock. How they give the owl a vocal chastising. Their calls attract the neigh- boring crows and the whole world throughout the winter. These berries, along with bittersweet and holly, will see him through the coldest of winter's weather. Speaking of bittersweet, we here on the north shore haven't as yet been taken over by this aggressive escapee. It seems there's hardly a road edge or walkway along the south side that isn't draped with this invasive climber. Its role in life is to climb to the very top of whatever it can entangle, be it bush or tree. It does have striking berries at this time of the year and many a person has taken them home as a winter bouquet. When finished with the bouquet, the unknowing will toss it in the back yard, where it will thank you by sprout- ing next spring to start its takeover of your yard. If this doesn't happen, ingested seeds will work their way through a pass- ing bird and will fall to the ground and in time will become part of the creep- ing understory that has one aim in life, and that is to take over whatever it can climb on. Beware of bittersweet's aggressive tendencies and tentacles. As I write the late - afternoon sun backlights the woods to the west with its low and brilliant glow. Drifting through the new bare woods are silken parachutes of seeds, wind- blown to who knows where. They are the seeds of the giant plume grass or phragmites, another unwanted invader. We can see how it spreads as a steady stream of its seeds travel by air to the far corners of our East End. Billions of these seeds are carried by the wind. Some find their way to a watery grave in our bays and creeks. A few will find just the right conditions for sprouting. Those that do will be the pioneers of wet areas. These areas are usually where man has dis- turbed the ground. Once established, there is little one can do to eliminate it. Now that the leaves are off the trees and the understory one can see through the woods. Our neighbors come into view, their homes once hid- den by the green foliage. This open- ness lets in the sunlight and bathes our greenhouse with its warmth. Here is where we bring in the plants we want to save from the outside cold. There's no heat in the greenhouse but until winter really sets in with its chilling cold, the plants will do well in their semi -warm glass enclosure. Then the next move is into the house. A greenhouse among our trees was not a good idea, especially if the green- house is among hickory trees. Through the years I believe every pane of glass on the roof has been broken by falling nuts or limbs. To correct the problem I've replaced the broken glass with quarter- inch - salvaged Plexiglas and so far it's worked out well. This is the first year we'll have no broken roof panes to repair (I hope). It just goes to show that things do work out if given a chance. Sometimes it takes years to find the right solution. Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Although a handsome bouquet can be made out of the red - orange berries from bittersweet, it can take over your gar- den If given a chance, so beware. Once established, It's almost impossible to get rid of. i r OWN 9M-W ■ Aft, wrAF IM w ^■F `r G, a QV i.rVVn ii!'1V1:1 75 years ago Nov. 30, 1923 Only printers may swear. Young man, don't swear. There is no occasion for it outside of a printing office, where it is useful when the paper is behind time. It also comes in handy in proofreading and is "indispensable" when the ink works badly and the press begins to "buck." It is sometimes brought into use when the foreman's mad; and it has been known to entirely remove the tired feeling of the editor when he looks over the paper after it has been printed. Outside the printing office it is a foolish habit. Southold news: Who'll buy the hotel corner and build an edifice big enough to house a hall, a bank, Town Clerk's office, library, other office, a restaurant, etc.? 50 years ago Dec. 3, 1948 For sale: Boat— "Eladio," in service heretofore as ferry on Great South Bay: 59 feet, four inches, by 12 feet, four inches, by three feet. Wooden hull, engine removed. May be inspected at Brewster's Shipyard, Bay Shore. To be sold as is, where is, to highest bidder. Cord of fireplace wood —Any length desired. $16 delivered. Edwin King, Orient. Mobile telephones on the rise: Rapid growth of mobile radiotelephone service in the nation — handling calls to and from motor cars and other transportation seems to echo their insults and rasping calls. Sooner or later they combine efforts to drive the "terror of the night" from the area. Our resident mockingbird has taken up its vigil down at the pond, where he'll dine on multiflora rose hips units — is indicated in a recent Bell System report. In a recent month nearly 175,000 calls were made to and from 5,559 mobile units, according to figures received from 56 cities having the service along major highways. On both urban and highway channels, 50 percent of all calls originated at the telephones in automobiles and other conveyances. Many of the calls were to and from out -of- town places. In the case of the highway service, more than a fifth of the calls were to and from distant places. 25 years ago Nov. 29, 1973 Oysterponds to vote on land buy: Oysterponds School District residents will vote tonight at 7:30 p.m. on a pro- posal to purchase 7.1 acres of land adjoining the present five -acre school site. The $65,000 cost of the land includes $56,000 purchase price and $9,000 for land improvement, insurance and court costs. Should the purchase be approved, a New York State Court would be asked to rule on the propri- ety of the purchase since the land is owned by the chair- man of the Oysterponds school board, Edward Latham. For sale: Arshamomaque —New three- bedroom ranch on storm -safe canal front to bay. $62,500. Nassau Point —One acre waterfront property, partly cultivated, with pump and water, bulkheaded. Asking $38,500.