The River Field

Straight River Farm was originally 30 acres.  About 500 feet wide and 1/2-mile long, the farm started at the Straight River and rose up in a series of long narrow fields, divided up the middle by a gravel field road.  The former owner had horses and farmed as a hobby; a lot of the farm was in pasture, some in alfalfa, and the rest varied from year to year.  Farmer Bill changed most of that.  A field on one side of the road became the apple orchard, the field across from the orchard was split into 2 parcels that became strawberry plantings.  At the top of the field road are the house and outbuildings on about 5 acres.  Above the buildings, abutting the township road, are 2 flat fields that also became strawberry plantings.

Then there was the river field.  The river field was next to the river -- hence its name.  It was a lovely little field, just over 3 acres tillable, surrounded by trees and brush on 3 side and the river on the 4th.  To get to the river field, you drove down the field road that bisects the farm, across a gravel 'bridge' over a backwash of the Straight River, and came out into a lovely, secluded field.  You never knew what wildlife you'd surprise as you came down: deer, wild turkeys, pheasant, racoons.  And I get a Bald Eagle sighting at least once every year.

The river field was the first planting of strawberries.  The plan was to have 5 strawberry fields in rotation.  A planting year, 3 picking years, and 1 year off.  Strawberries were planted in 2003 and tended carefully, to be the first cash crop in June 2004.  But Mother Nature had other plans.  In spring 2004, the Straight River flooded.  A flood like the locals said they hadn't seen for years, maybe decades.  The river came up over the bank and flowed across half of the river field, gouging huge holes and leaving behind sand, rocks, and debris.  Our pick-your-own option was out of the question -- it was no longer possible (safe) to allow customers in the field.  Farmer Bill found some workers to pick strawberries and changed his plan -- taking all of the berries to farmers markets.  More labor & expense involved, but since he was pretty much the only strawberry seller at the market, the berries sold well.

Then Bill brought in a bulldozer and filled in the holes, built up the bank again, smoothed out the field, and started over with the half that had been flooded.  But every year the river flooded at least a little, especially during snowmelt.  At the very least, the road across the backwash would get partially washed away.  Bill has spent a lot of time and energy rebuilding that piece of the road.

Then, the flood of 2010 occurred.  And in the fall rather than the spring.  It was a particularly wet late summer and early fall, with so much rain so regularly that the ground became totally saturated.  Then one night in September, we had 6 or more inches of rain in a couple of hours.  And the Straight River flooded as it had never flooded before.  The entire river field was under water for days.  After several days, when the water had started to go down, Farmer Bill took our canoe down, and he & Isidro paddled across.  Irrigation pipe buried 4 feet below the surface had been uncovered and tossed around.  The river carved itself a new path, half way through our river field.  When the water receded, it was clear that the field would never be able to be farmed again.  Rocks varying in size from golf ball to basketball size were strewn across the ground, and sand dunes were scattered here and there.  We were awed by the incredible power of running water.

What happens next we still don't know.  The State may be willing to give Farmer Bill some money in exchange for a permanent easement across that field.  What the easement means is not exactly clear.  We'd still own the land and have the use of it, is all I'm sure of.  Since small farmers like Farmer Bill can't really do crop insurance, a little money for an easement would be very welcome.  He's lost the income from that field -- $8,000-$10,000/acre from the strawberry crop on it -- for this year. 

Of course, since he bought 20 acres next door to Straight River Farm, he has plenty of other places to start new strawberry fields... but the 20 acre addition is a whole other story.