The Riley Factor #78

The Riley Factor August 25 , 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, August 25  --

The Rains -- This past Sunday, we got six inches of rain here in beautiful Fort Plain.  And six inches of water in our basement.  Our drainage culvert, which runs parallel to the house and carries the water run-off from the fields down to the street culvert, breached its boundaries, and we had a 15-foot wide stream of sorts running across our front yard and driveway.  All is fine here now, owing to a couple of pumps running all night in the basement and emptying the swimming-pool-to-be.  We saw some wicked flooding in and around town.  One house, its breezeway and garage had a stream turned river flowing right through it, across the front yard and across Route 163 in a 100-foot-wide swath.  When we drove past, the owners were standing in front of the house in six inches of flowing water in the middle of the street on the double yellow line.  Rock Creek, our little creek after which our farm is named, is dry most of the year or at least runs very, very little.  Our pasture fence is built right over the creek, about 20 yards from Route 163, under which the creek flows through a 4-5 foot in diameter pipe.  After a typical torrential rain storm, the creek might widen to 15-20 feet and perhaps a foot deep for a few hours due to storm run-off.  We have experienced this many times.  Last evening, the creek had swelled to 75 feet wide and was so deep it flowed through and right over the top of the pasture fence.

Planting and Plowing -- Harvesting is done for the year, except for the remaining tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco.  Soon fields will again be plowed and disked, and the hard red and soft white winter wheat will be planted.

Riley -- Allegedly a hunting hound of sorts, Riley spends part of each daily run/walk pursuing rabbits and other little furry creatures.  To date, Riley is being shut out.  A good thing.

The Herd of Five -- Grazing in the pasture, mooing, nibbling on hay bales, slurping some water, pooping ... the life of cattle is not a diverse one.

Fowl Weather -- We sold 20 of the black Jersey Giant chickens, which were about three months old, so now the chicken flock is back to a manageable level at 49 ... 31 remaining Jersey Giants and 18 of the Cornish Rock Hen/RI Red crossbreeds.  On the turkey front, for some reason, the 23 young turkeys, which are about two months old and just learning what their wings are for, decided to fly up into the top rafters in the barn one evening last week.  No explanation offered.  They refused Queen Susan's pleas to return to the planet surface, resulting in their spending a night up over the hay in the rafters above the top floor of the barn.  Fortunately, one night was enough for this adventure.
Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- The most civilized of the logging roads has finally been cleared and pruned to allow even the least hardy sole to traverse via ATV or Ute a half mile into and out of the darkest parts of the woods without feeling like their face is being constantly whacked by brush.  Sorry, but your butt will still feel like you've been in the saddle driving cattle for a week, but, hey, you can't have everything.

Quote of the Week -- "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."  Ralph Waldo Emerson