The Riley Factor #66

The Riley Factor June 3, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, June 3 --

Planting and Plowing -- Mowing continued throughout the week in the trails and fields.  With 13 straight days of sun, 80-90 degree temps and no rain, everything was dry as dust before Tuesday's rain.  Wednesday was perfect for planting and Susan and the Amish trio (Annie, Barb and Lizzie) transplanted about 100 tomato plants and 100 peppers from the greenhouse into the garden, along with some herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, etc,) and other veggies.

Riley's Antics -- Riley has taken to following Chris around when they are both outside during the day, around the yard and barns.  Riley always manages to get close enough to the pond for a splash and swim -- those webbed feet still work like canoe paddles for him.  He frequently stops and sits in two-feet-deep water with only eyes and top of head showing -- must be his alligator impression.  Not very menacing.

The Herd of Five -- Definitely insiders when the temps are above 75, venturing into the pasture only in late afternoon and evening.  No more nighttime escapes to report.  When we are in the pasture, we now have to take vehicle keys with us, as Gabe and Eli have taken to removing the keys from the ignitions and leaving them dropped hide-and-seek fashion in the grass (so far, nearby).

Fowl Weatherr -- On Monday, the tall white pole pine in the pasture contributed 14 more fallen limbs, and roosts were made for the Keets and the Jersey Giant chicks.  All are now happily roosting in their respective stalls in the barn, their coops, and able to sit at their chosen height in order to regulate their body temperature.  Prior to the installation of their new furniture, the new chicks had been running and jumping around like little maniacs, trying to get closer to the sky.  Now, they are at peace.  However, all the Keets and Jersey chicks have created one method or another of escaping their coops.  We routinely find a few strolling the main aisle in the barn.  The Keets are a tightly wound bunch, keeping within a half inch of each other whenever humans are in the vicinity.  The Jerseys run for their lives whenever we get within 10 feet of them -- 50 tiny black dots scrambling in all directions while peeping their heads off.  Actually, they look like very tiny penguins, being played at 78 when they are really a 33 LP.  (At least half of The Riley Factor readership has no idea to what that refers).  Wednesday night, one of the turkeys went out on an unauthorized overnight stroll -- went missing about 7PM and our evening search was fruitless.  But from the world of happy endings, as we left the barn at about 8AM Thursday, the missing link was running happily toward us across the back yard, soaking wet and completely mud covered -- no longer a bright white Domestic American Turkey, but looking more like she was camouflaged returning from a week-long sniper mission in the jungles of Southeast Asia.  And lastly, a peeping box with air holes in it arrived from the Post Office on Thursday morning, filled with 20 Narragansett Turkey chicks -- another 20 birds all to behave well but act very nervously around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holidays.

Mowings and Musings -- Susan spent Tuesday afternoon re-landscaping the side of the main barn -- bucket loader and tractor under saddle.  Looks great -- no one would ever suspect the septic tank exploded a month ago.  But, Wednesday morning, two chickens were seen teaching two turkeys how to dig nests in the just seeded earth -- what's the deal with that?  New sighting -- while rolling around the place on Tuesday evening's ATV run, we came across a 10-12 inch snapping turtle in the road above the fourth field.  He looked happy enough, but we stayed outside of snapping distance.  10 and 10 each, OK, moving on.