The Riley Factor #96

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
April 21, 2011, Issue No. 96
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

The Rains -- Really not much weather to report.  In typical Upstate NY fashion, it was sunny and 65 degrees yesterday and this morning it is in the 30s and snowing/sleeting.  Eli, Michael and Raphael were screaming like little girls today because their morning hay was put out in the open and not next to the barn under the run-in overhang.  Rio was wandering the pasture toughing it out.

Auction Season -- We went to a farm auction on Lattimer Hill Road in Ames, NY, where an old time farmer had decided to reture.  Benuel Fisher Auctions ran the affair, and about 400 people were there on Friday, April 15, including a number of equipment dealers from around the country.  There was a huge selection of small farm stuff, too much, too arcane and too inane to list.  And there were also the requisite half dozen hay wagons, a couple of tractors, several hay rakes, hay mowers, hay balers, a hay elevator, a couple of feed wagons, hay feeders, bush hogs, buckets of all shapes and sizes, shovels, and a manure spreader (which had as one of its sale conditions that the buyer leave it behind for four weeks so the farmer could continue to spread the manure produced daily by the remaining dairy cows).  My favorite item was a "1,500 unit" bull semen tank -- thankfully it was empty, however they did sell separately several dozen doses of semen, complete with donor description, age, etc. (but no photos).  My two favorite lines from Benuel Fisher, the auctioneer, during the event were both uttered when some electrical device or another was being held up for the crowd to see and bid on.  The first line occurred when Benuel asked the farmer if the device worked -- after a long pause, the farmer yelled back, "It used to".  And the number one line of the day was when some other electric device was being auctioned.  Benuel was taking bids and paused and asked his helper what the tag said that was hanging on the device.  The helper paused, read the tag, and shouted back, "It says 'Might walk, but definitely does not run'".

Visitors -- Stevie was here the past couple of days, along with her sidekick Bruin, the Black Lab/Bluetick Coonhound/Beagle puppy mix.  Keith MacGregor stopped-in to do a little plumbing and spend most of the morning postulating with us on the current down-trending economy in America.  Late yesterday, Stevie, Riley and I went over to Chris King's to visit Lady.  Her training is coming-along very well.  Chris has asked us several times if we want to sell her, commenting on what a great carriage horse she would make.  Our current plan is to keep her from making the English to Amish conversion.

Planting and Plowing -- We decided to double-stack the raised beds this year, so we have 15 beds that are 14" high instead of twice-as-many boxes that are half-as-high.  We roto-tilled the freed-up ground, future use to be determined, probably cucumbers, several types of squash, green beans, peas, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, peppers, radishes, some melons and rowed onions.  Yesterday, Susan planted 150 strawberry plants in six rows of 25 -- who knew that you can't allow strawberry plants to produce fruit their first year?  This allows strengthening of the root runners.  The garden area above the greenhouse will be mostly potatoes, with some kidney beans, pinto beans and who knows what else.  The remaining raised beds will likely be used for various herbs, lettuce & spring greens, cabbage, eggplant, broccoli and some experiments.  On April 15, Susan planted 400 large candy onion sets, the first official in-ground planting of the season, in five of the raised beds.  Candy onions are a big favorite of the Amish -- they are large and sweet, and may be harvested at various sizes over a couple of months.  Except for their large round shape, they are similar to Vidalia onions.  We plan to place hinged glass windows on some of the raised beds, which enable earlier-in-the-year planting and also allow vegetables to be harvested later in the year.  Here, the average date of last frost is May 20 -- last year, we had an overnight hard frost of 25 degrees on May 27, which killed many plants that gardeners and farmers had put int he ground early -- it also killed a great percentage of apple and pear blossoms, resulting in greatly diminished fruit crops in 2010 in this area.

Riley --Happy this spring, still much the puppy at only a year and a half years old.  At his recent annual physical, he weighed-in at 86 pounds, destined to be his forever weight.  His favorite past time is "greeting" the many visitors who grace our doorstep daily.  If you are of slight build, in the five foot, hundred pound neighborhood, The Riley Pounce may knock you back a bit.  All told, The Riley is becoming very well behaved.  Although when it comes to the chickens, Riley can't help himself and chases them like toys put out for his enjoyment -- not a good thing.  The French Guinea Fowl, those loud little soldiers who travel around in tight formation, do not stand for any of Riley's antics, and he has realized that they are not to be trifled with.

Horses -- Lady has been spending her days and nights at Chris King's farm, on Clark Road in Danube, Herkimer County, about 15 miles away.  Chris King took her on April 12 to convert her from green-broke into a bona fide riding horse.  Everyone who sees Lady remarks on her good looks; it's that cross-breed of Morgan and American Saddlebred which give her such a prominent profile as she poses and prances, which she often does.  She is very calm thees days, and even puts her head on top of Susan's head, when they are walking no less.  It is interesting that the King family was the first Amish family to settle in this area, done back about five years ago (followed soon after by Melvin Miller and his extended family and the large John Fisher extended family).  Now, there are about 500 Amish families in the area (Fort Plain, Minden, Palatine Bridge, Canajoharie, Nelliston, Little Falls, St. Johnsville, Danube, Herkimer).  Rio is definitely missing Lady, jumping around and making a lot of horse noises, where he has generally been quiet and peaceful since his December arrival art Rock Creek Farm.  We have visited Lady ar the King Farm, where she shares a new small barn with 4-5 other horses.  She has her own stall, and seems to get along great with the other horses, one of which is a 10-year old Morgan that has won many awards.  Lady and the other horses also share the pasture with a dozen working mules, which pull various farming implements at the dairy farm.  The Kings milk 66 cows and have another 30-40 heifers and other head of cattle, along with producing their own hay and growing 37 acres of corn for feed.  Chris King, 21, is the second eldest of 11 King children, 10 of which are boys, all living at the King Farm.  His brother, John, is a dog lover, and has a dozen dogs running around the place (all very friendly and a big hit with The Riley when he visits).

The Herd of Three -- Eli, Michael and Raphael are happy that the pasture grass is growing and also for the reprieve from being chased around by Lady, the Prairie Boss(ette).

Fowl Weather -- We moved a rooster and three hens into Lady's stall to attempt some chicken breeding.  A chicken will lay a few eggs, say 3 to 6, and then sit on them for 21 days until hatching -- gestation period measured from start of sitting, not day of laying.  We are using the turkey hutches that Israel Kanagy built, for the chickens to use to sit on their egg clutches.  The turkey hutches are large and mobile, vs. the chicken hutches which are a bit smaller and mounted on the walls of the chicken coop.  The chickens use these chicken hutches for laying their daily egg quotas.  Believe it or not, one may actually purchase little chicken necklaces with sequential numbers on them so a true egg farmer can number each chicken and observe and make notes as to which hens are laying eggs and which hens should should be scheduled for the broiler -- thankfully, we have not devolved to this practice.  On April 15, one of our hen turkeys began sitting on a clutch of eggs -- a combination of 4 turkey eggs and 4 chicken eggs -- it is probably a bit too cold for true breeding and brooding to occur.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- All quiet in the Shire.  We did acquire a new heavy-duty wood splitter to allow for producing 15-20 cords of firewood for use next winter.  One of our goals is to heat as much of the house as possible with wood.

Blog -- The Riley Factor has entered the 21st century, and its own official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/ and you can see all 94 issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer.  But I digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     In my many years, I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two useless men are a law firm, and three or more useless men are a congress.  --  John Adams

     The government who robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.  --  George Bernard Shaw   If you take from Peter to pay Paul, you will always have the full support of Paul.  Obama has it figured out ... in the United States, there are more Pauls than Peters.  --  Bernard Goldberg