The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
April 28, 2012, Issue No. 118
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
April 28, 2012, Issue No. 118
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Riley and the Littles -- It is tick season, and we have had to pluck a few of the little critters off of The Riley. Apparently, cats only rarely get ticks, and Gabby's thick fur must keep most of them away. So Riley is the current most popular victim. Newest cat Izzy, the youngest (and smallest) of our lot at about three, has been here since last fall and has easily made the adjustment from suburbia to rurality (editor's note: made-up word). And she is one of those rare cats that generally comes when called. As bedtime approaches, Izzy follows Nancy around like it's her job.
Plowing and Planting -- Unseasonably warm March and early April weather got us off to an early start with the 2012 planting. We put-in two acres each of wheat, oats, rye and barley, and a quarter acre of potatoes. In addition, plants in the greenhouse are flourishing, and we have even gotten a few of the cold-loving varieties (peas, cabbage) in the ground in the garden. Inside the greenhouse, Susan has some tomato plants already bearing fruits and a few cucumbers over six inches long. There are also a couple dozen each of eggplants, peppers and zucchini growing strong, along with some butternut squash, Australian butter squash, coffee bushes, tobacco plants, herbs, flowers and a few hundred onions.
And They're Off -- In early April, Lady and Rio were running around the pasture like it was time for the feature at Santa Anita. One day, I saw Lady approach a car-sized hay pile at full speed and leap it in a single bound, like Superhorse. Another day, I was hand-feeding Lady and Rio some left-over hay from the back of the pick-up, and I noticed that Lady eats hay in much larger bites and twice as fast as Rio. Yet she still maintains her 1,500+ pound girlish figure. Rio is more the slow-and-easy-wins-the-race type. Alack and alas, as time tolled, we decided that Lady was simply too tall a horse for Susan to ride. So we sold her to Chris King, who plans to use her as a carriage horse. She is now just four years old and only now coming into her prime. On April 13, we loaded Lady into a horse trailer and she headed for her new home on Clark Road in Danube, about 10-12 miles from Rock Creek Farm.
In Lady's place, we expect to soon acquire Hokey, a 7-year-old Hackney Pony (think small horse, rather than pony) -- just the right height for riding. Formerly known as Wilson Pony breed, the Hackney Pony was first bred in Great Britain in 1866 to pull carriages, as an animal that possessed the characteristics of a horse but more the smaller size of a pony. The Hackney Pony is a bit of a cross-breed of the Hackney Horse, Fell Pony and the Welsh Pony. Hackney Ponies range in height between 12 and 14 hands (48 to 56 inches) at the withers. It has a reputation for being tenacious and fearless, qualities that are seen in top-tier show ponies. Hackney Ponies are very brave, alert, and active, and possess great stamina. Generally, they have pony character, with a reputation for being friendly toward humans. Hokey has spent the last few years owned by our friend Bradley Chadwick, and has spent summer seasons lent out to a local Amish man for exercise and use in pulling a carriage.
Extra, Extra ... The Herd of Two Becomes Herd of Four -- On April 20, we added a pair of Jersey bull calves to the herd, two and three weeks old. About 50-75 pounds each, one dark brown and the other a light fawn-colored brown, Abraham and Isaac are the latest residents in the barn. They have been deemed "extremely cute" by Susan and Nancy, and have already adjusted well to their new surroundings. Abraham, the youngest and largest of the two, enjoys escaping from his stall and dancing in the center aisle. And the elders, Eli and Lily, are now fast friends and can usually be seen standing or lying within a few feet of one-another. When the horses are busily running in circles and counter circles, the two big bovines will pick a corner of the pasture and lie and bask in the sun. No sweat are they about to break, without a reason. And finally, late afternoon, April 15, a knock at the door. Strange Lady there says to me, "Do you have a brown cow standing in the middle of the road?" Oops. After 15 minutes of chasing Lily around like a clown circus, sobriety was restored to all. Lily had squeezed under the pasture fence where Rock Creek passes under it and thereby tasted freedom. (Fence since repaired).
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- The 43rd Annual Mohawk Valley Machinery Consignment Auction, conducted on the Fort Plain/Canajoharie town line, was held on April 28. A several-acre lot about a mile from Rock Creek Farm fills with hundreds of pieces of farm and construction equipment, old pick-up trucks and auction lots of tools, carts, ATVs, sheds, trappings and just plain junk, all sold to the highest bidder, with no reserves, by Armistead Auctions. This spring, we privately purchased some needed equipment (kicker baler, hay tedder, hay rake, manure spreader, middle buster, hiller, two hay wagons) from our friend Bradley, who is selling his farm and moving back downstate to Westchester County, where his children and grandchildren live, after spending 25 years farming here. (His girlfriend of 22 years died this past January). So we did mostly selling at the auction, getting rid of several pieces of equipment we no longer need (22-ton log splitter, hay tedder, hay bar mower, flat-bed trailer, 60" rototiller, walk-behind rototiller and a couple of ATVs). We also picked-up a small garden tractor at the recent annual Springfield Tractor spring auction. The exchange should free-up some garage and barn space, and make easier work of haying, potato planting and corn planting. We'll see. For sure, it will give our farm mechanic (me) more to keep up with.
Fowl Weather -- Turkeys, chickens and the lone French Guinea Fowl are all doing fine. With the warm weather, the chickens are back to laying about an egg a day each, which gives us a couple of dozen eggs per day to sell, use or give away. 25 Red Star chicken (hybrid cross of RI Red rooster with a Delaware White hen) chicks (24 hens, one rooster) and 16 Bronze Standard Turkey chicks arrived in mid April. It always amazes me when the Post Office call comes in, and we go to Beautiful Downtown Fort Plain to pick-up a box with holes and peeping chickens or turkeys in it. The USPS routinely mails these live squigglers across the country without incident. All arrived safe and sound.
Visitors -- All fairly quiet here in Middle Earth. School vacation week in mid-April saw Stevie and Scott visit for a few days. Trails were bone dry and we spent much of Friday riding around the bush and woods.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. -- The Bible, Psalm 118:24
If you're happy and you know it, share your meds. -- Unknown
No matter how smart you are, or how much you study, you will never figure out how a watch works until you look inside. -- Albert Einstein
Investors should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful. -- Warren Buffett
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. -- Unknown
In the game of life, lawyers are the only ones who read the inside of the box. -- Jerry Seinfeld
What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. -- Mary Pickford
Americans cannot let worries over future deficits and debt interfere with investment in government programs that help those in need. -- Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. -- Albert Einstein
If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, then wake up and pay attention. -- Sister Mary Clarence (Correction of quote in issue no. 117; error pointed-out by one Stevie Fuchs Bentley) ...
Facts of the Month --
The average American will pay more this year in taxes than he or she will spend on housing, food and clothing combined. The average worker will work 70 days this year just to pay his or her tax bill.
Commentary of the Month -- The United States Congress has not passed a financial budget since Obama has been president. Annually, Obama has proposed a budget. As have the Republicans. As has the House of Representatives. Yet Congress has not gotten together to actually agree on and pass budget legislation to guide the Country's finances, and all the programs, regulation and governance that goes along with it. My simple and very effective solution -- no budget, no pay for the President or Congress.
And then there's this --
It was about five years ago when The Fabulous Beekman Boys first encountered and quickly fell in love with the ghostly beauty and rolling farmland of Schoharie County’s Sharon Springs, about 50 miles west of Albany, and next door to Fort Plain and Canajoharie. And they soon bought a weekend house in Sharon Springs — an 1802 Federal-Georgian home, known as the Beekman Mansion, on 60 acres. Since then, their farm and television show have blossomed, this year switching from the Planet Green Network to the Cooking Channel. If you'd like to read more ...
