Took over our plot late last year, damaged my knee shortly after, so didn't get winter digging done. Have recently started to do some digging, to get at least some of the plot usable for this growing season, and am realising that the more I dig, the more stones (up to hen's egg size) I am unearthing. The soil itself (under the hard crust) seems not too bad, but I don't think it's been dug properly for years, as the previous tenant was an old boy in his eighties.
My question is,......How far should I go in removing stones, or should I just leave them? I understand that SOME stones are needed to aid drainage, but the amount we have seems excessive. Several bucketsful have already been removed from just a few square yards.
What's the soil itself like?
I don't know what you would call it, but it's not clay. It crumbles nicely, but at the moment has a hard crust on the top. Once you get the spade through the top inch or so, it goes down to full depth quite easily (unless you manage to hit a stone/rock).
In truth, it could probably do with the addition of quite a lot of organic matter, but at this stage I don't want (haven't got the resources) to enrich it too much, except in the bean trenches, where I have added a layer of shredded paper and a bag of composted farmyard manure in each trench.
We have started planting it up, and everything seems to be growing OK. Harvest time will of course be the telling time.
I was more concerned about the stones affecting things like carrots and parsnips.
They might affect the appearance of your root crops, but assuming you're growing to eat, I would only move them out of the way on where I'm sowing (to the edges, with a rake)... Go with your adding organic matter approach, but they'll still work their way to the top over time.
You may have to stick with shorter "roots", such as the round carrots (Paris something).
At least you'll have good drainage, so that's a plus!
Get as many out as you can Quiz I've dug out bucket fulls in the last few weeks, as Ollie says it will affect your roots so I would get all out in that area if possible, dig down and if you cant get rid then dig a small trench and fill with potting compost and plant your roots in that, happy digging. ;D ;D ;D
Our soil is pretty light and sandy. Last year we dug ive the whole plot added loads of composted manure - very few stones. This year more and more are surfacing. Apparently thats what they do!
Barnowl,
They do indeed!
How do they work their way up?
I would hereby like to claim the title of the world's best grower of stones. I can grow bucket loads of them year after year, and it does not seem to matter whether I manure the ground or not.
I have just used the winter crop to make two small paths.
On the edible front, I would not bother about them too much apart from removing the larger ones when you are preparing beds in the spring. However, if you want to "guarantee" long straight root crops such as carrots and parsnips then you may be faced with some hard work. The guy on the next plot to us has just spent a lot of time sifting the soil and removing stones from the bed where he is growing carrots.
We also have very stony soil, i take out any large ones i see whenever i see them, but for my carrot and parsnips i have riddled the trench's they will go in.
Its the winter that makes them come to the top. Just like big lumps in powders rise to the surface. Water in teh ground freezes in winter, expands and pushes everything around. When the luumps of frozen earth crumble the smaller pieces fall down and settle below the bigger stones. I live in a chalk area and although the allotment has a good depth of top soil, 3-4ft. The house has about 6 inches and so grows big lumps of chalk :-(
Thanks for all the replies.
We actually seem to have only around 12 inches of top soil, as the colour changes dramatically when you get that far down, and its quite compacted down there. It's on the boundary between the two colours where the biggest stones seem to be lying.
Quote from: woppa30 on May 04, 2007, 08:21:58
Its the winter that makes them come to the top. Just like big lumps in powders rise to the surface. Water in teh ground freezes in winter, expands and pushes everything around. When the luumps of frozen earth crumble the smaller pieces fall down and settle below the bigger stones. I live in a chalk area and although the allotment has a good depth of top soil, 3-4ft. The house has about 6 inches and so grows big lumps of chalk :-(
Very scientific but we all know the real truth is that they breed and give birth during the winter ....
it's true, I have my own pedigree herd of Norfolk flints.
I also have a few colonies of the much rarer Roman brick.
I would just pull the main big ones out as you go. As previously stated - raking will gather a few together. Same again when you winter dig. Each year they will get less. Depends on how much time you have to pick stones. Dont be worrying too much though. 3 years time I am sure you will be complaining you cant grow them anymore ;) ;D ;) ;D ;) ;D
Bloke on the next plot says he gets more every year, between us we could Bak a run for his money, actually we have the chinese government coming round this weekend they want to top up the china wall. ;D ;D ;D
You could use them to make paths (especially between raised beds), gives you somewhere to chuck them as they rise to the surface.
Found a good place to chuck a lot of the stones....... in the two foot gap which will not get dug, between the 2 bean trenches. Hopefully if we get enough in there it will help supress the weeds, and act as a mulch to retain moisture.
I'm collecting all my stones to make a solar powered storage heater for my greenhouse.
I'll post some pics when I get around to building it.
Quote from: dtw on May 26, 2007, 23:41:02
I'm collecting all my stones to make a solar powered storage heater for my greenhouse.
I'll post some pics when I get around to building it.
Aaaahhhh yes. Stones and broken glass. Heard about that. Apparently it works excellent. Some geezer did his home / garage or shed heating that way recently. Missed it on TV though. It would have been good to see.
It was made by Dick Strawbridge of 'It's not easy being green' fame.
I can't find the article anywhere, but it's pretty basic.
from their "it's not easy being green" website:
QuoteHow does the greenhouse heat sink work?
Some details are in the book, but half the adventure is working out for yourself and thereby customising you solution. All you need is:
The heat sink is imploded glass - we used bottles from various parties and the local pub - imploded courtesy of Krysteline www.krysteline.net
Big hole - we lined it with polystyrene that came as packaging
Pipes were standard waste pipes for under sinks etc
Fan was a small 12V computer fan from a market £1.20 - in a box made of scrap wood
A 12V deep cycle leisure battery
Small 11w solar panel and charge controller
Old chimney cowl for the air to be pushed out the glass
Air sucked down from the apex heats the broken glass under the floor. Fan runs 24 hours a day. As the greenhouse cools the cooler air is still pumped through the glass, but when it comes out through the cowl, at floor level, the glass has warmed it so a constant supply of warm air is now being pumped through.
We dug loads of stones out of our patch and transported them to the tip.
Now I'm always on the look out for big enough stones to hold down fleece and netting ::)
So keep a stone pile!
Sand