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rocks and gardening :( | (Read 261 times) |
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 09, 2008, 09:26:22 AM |
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I wish there was an easy answer.
I see only two alternatives: dig them out or make raised beds.
I wouldn't feel so bad about dealing with them, if there was something they could be used for!
Recently, one of my crews said he was looking into slipform building. From what I have found, you set up some wooden forms that can be added to in height as you build. Then you pour a little concrete in the bottom, drop rocks into it, and add more concrete, mushing it between the rocks. More rocks, more concrete.
One thought that did come to mind is a half-circle rock/concrete structure, a wall aimed at the sun.
Then I would plant a Puget Gold apricot in it, and see if I the retained heat would help it to produce. Apricot trees will GROW here, but they are said to only produce fruit maybe one year out of six. The big problem here is that we have warm days in early spring, the trees flower, then we get freezing nights that kill the flowers, so no fruit.
Maybe incorporate some spikes or clips or something that would hold heavy-duty plastic sheeting over the top and front on cold nights after buds form.
What do you think?
(And yes, I do know that the usual recommendation is to plant them in the coolest place available to help prevent bud formation, but it just doesn't work here.)
Sue
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1471
western WA
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November 10, 2008, 01:19:13 PM |
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With permaculture, the rocks are great!
Imagine mulching with rocks.
Rocks make the very best raised bed borders. I like raised beds that are two feet tall!
If you make a pile of rocks near the drip line of a tree, after a year, the rocks on the bottom will be super cool (from the soil underneath from all of the previous winter). As cool morning air passes through the rocks, the rocks will collect far more dew and dribble that water onto the tree roots at that spot. It will make for excellent frog and newt habitat.
Rocks are great for walls, for chimneys .... imagine something like a cob oven, but built with lots of rocks. Imagine a mass heater inside your home made out of rocks. Imagine a spring house made from stone.
I think the only folks that freak out about rocks are those with plows and rototillers.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1471
western WA
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November 11, 2008, 07:09:23 AM |
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Generally speaking: I dunno.
Generally speaking: As long as you have any soil, you can do stuff. There is a BIG difference between a rock that spans 20 acres that has dust in the cracks and 20 acres of soil that is 80% rocks fist size or bigger. The first is difficult. The latter seems pretty damn good to me!
My preferred gardening technique is permanent raised beds that are two feet tall. And rocks make the best border. Only rocks that are big enough can be hard to find or come from far away. Imagine deciding where your raised beds are going to be and then digging down about a foot to get the rocks out that you will use fro the border. Next, dig down a foot outside the bed to also get rocks for the border and soil to go inside the bed. As you build up the bed, don't forget to throw lots of old wood, sticks, leaves, old hay, animal poop and any other organic matter into the bed. You will end up with fantastic soil in a raised bed with a rock border and rock paths between the beds.
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 11, 2008, 09:42:05 AM |
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Paul, do you mortar your rocks together? Mine are the round glacial type, and there's no way they can stack. Roll, yes, but not stack.
Yes, the problem is finding the rocks that are large enough to be useful. Mine range from head-sized to smaller, with emphasis on large baking potato sizes.
Leah, one thing that just came to mind is making some beds that fit old windows that you already have. Use them to cover the beds in cool weather, remove them in warm weather.
Apparently, the slip-form idea will take all sizes of rocks, not requiring just the large ones. I may try some slipform garden beds someday.
Sue
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 12, 2008, 11:32:55 AM |
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Here's the local Cooperative Extension Service for Crawford Co., AR: http://www.uaex.edu/crawford/
It probably wouldn't hurt to contact them and chat.
Oh, well, if the soil isn't too good, you know how to improve it! 
I was looking for Ft. Smith soil descriptions and ran across this site that evaluates radon in the area. Hmmmm.... http://www.ersys.com/usa/05/0524550/radon.htm
Sue
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 12, 2008, 10:30:20 PM |
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Well, yes, it is a rather personal question... 
Are your rocks round? How do you get them to lean? Mine just roll and then sit there like, well, rocks.
How high are your beds?
Sue
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1471
western WA
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November 13, 2008, 10:07:14 AM |
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You can see some of my garden beds in this article
The rounder the rocks, the more they need to lean in on the dirt. You can see some pretty round rocks ...
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 13, 2008, 05:42:17 PM |
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What article?
Sue
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 13, 2008, 07:19:15 PM |
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Mine are even more round than that. (No, I'm not bragging  ). I think they roll by themselves around midnight. Right around the same time the coathangers are multiplying in the closet.
Sue
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1471
western WA
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November 14, 2008, 09:57:14 AM |
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If you think about it, you could build a raised bed border with bowling balls about two feet high by leaning them in a little.
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 15, 2008, 11:56:33 AM |
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When I was looking for a place, I asked about the history of the land (shorter history in the west!). Mine was cow pasture.
The question I didn't know to ask (until later) was if they or any previous owner used it as a dump. My acre lot is L-shaped, as a previous owner bought the back half of the next-door neighbor's lot. I did kind of wonder about the longish (100') slight ridge or rise across the middle of the additional piece. I had dug a hole to plant a tree, and found a gallon glass fingerloop jug. The stomach-turner was the exposure of what appears to be a black plastic garbage bag that I just noticed last week. I haven't had the nerve to dig there and see what is what.
Ask!
Sue
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 521
Western WA
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November 16, 2008, 06:36:58 PM |
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SQUARED ROCKS! YOU'VE GOT SQUARED ROCKS THERE!
Sorry. But squared rocks can be stacked, unlike my granite bowling balls.
Don't those gas tanks contaminate the soil?
Sue
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Kelda O.
Posts: 358
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November 20, 2008, 09:11:22 PM |
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about the rocks:
yes, there's more minerals. I randomly was just in a conversation about rocks and farming today with an old-timer, 90 yr old neighbor. (even before i saw this post)
we were going on and on about how cool rocky land is, the regular agriculture folks don't want it because it's hard to till. but it's great for the soil water, and critters, to have all that soil diversity . If you're planting perennials, they don't it mind it at all as long as there's enough soil to grow in. So in a lot of ways it's more suited to the permaculture philosophy than regular ag.
Could be a real pain to dig holes in though. bummer
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Kelda O.
Posts: 358
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December 23, 2008, 09:09:02 PM |
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I was just thinking about rocks again with all this snow. I was lucky enough to be at the beach this weekend in a warm cabin (poor me) while everyone else was getting snowed in. There was, yes, still snow on the beach, just less.
And then it didn't snow for a few days, but was cold enough that the snow wasn't melting. Except where there was a big hurking rock to warm things up a bit.
Hm. Something to think about for my only-kinda-hardy plants out there. Everything right now is covered with a foot + of snow. But perhaps I could strategically place rocks to warm up a few spots faster....
(but then again, the snow is also protecting plants, it wouldn't do much good to melt away around a tender-ish perennial only to have it blasted by the cold once nighttime sets in)
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1471
western WA
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December 24, 2008, 10:17:59 AM |
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In the sepp holzer video, it shows lots and lots of ponds and lots and lots of rocks.
And it showed lots of snow and .... citrus fruits.
There would be big, south facing cliffs with a pond in front of them. So not only would the sun warm the rocks, but the sunlight would hit the pond and reflect onto the same rocks. So the rocks would get double sun.
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not much soil at all. but Ididnt' get a chance to go to some of the open valley areas and stick a shovel in the ground. hopefully the sediment that has settled in the valleys over the years will offer pockets of decent soil. There were several isolated areas that were put to agricultural use, mostly around the arkansas river, so I can hope to find somwhere near there.
