diamond hunter
Well-Known Member
Besides hard labor and child slave labor ect,how do I get 291 million baseball sized and smaller rocks out of a 2 acre field?
I was the same way, I had an area between two hills widened by a bulldozer, turned out great, until heavy rains turned it into a rock field.I've almost given up fighting my rock fields. I suspect I will attempt a full no-till no-drill planting sequence next year.
That's been 10 years in the making of the soil. No lime added in the past two years just fertilizing. Only time it did not do well was during last summer's (1 yr ago) drought. But it is all about timing. Mother Nature can be cruel. I'm just glad I don't farm for a living!!What an awesome plot wildlifefarmer! What I wouldn't give for actual soil instead of the chert/rock fields I have on these ridgetops.
Have you looked into biochar? Saw a podcast where they were talking about how the Incas ? transformed poor soil into super fertile soil using biochar. I figure they used some form of prescribed fire on the fields regularly to create the carbon.What an awesome plot wildlifefarmer! What I wouldn't give for actual soil instead of the chert/rock fields I have on these ridgetops.
That picture makes me have a strong urge to plant turnips, radishes, crimson clover and wheat!I think many assume I'm exaggerating when I talk about the rock in my plots. My ridge-top plots are nothing but chert rock. That is why the ridges exist. They are solid chert. The below picture was taken in the middle of one of my newer plots. And unbelievably, that plot has been tilled 6-inches deep twice before that picture was taken. Problem is, the small amount of clay "soil" that exists (holds the chert together as concrete) just settles back down around the chert the first hard rain and you're back with a rock field. After all the work of getting a tractor and sturdy tiller to till these plots, I've finally decided that's not the way to go. I'm going back to broadcast seeding and mowing as a planting technique. I'm more limited on seed choices, and germination/growth not as good as a tilled field, but when things get dry, the "throw-and-mow" plots survive while the tilled plots do not, and we have far too many dry spells in summer/fall.
Lots and lots of crimson clover and wheat! Sadly, the deer aren't as fond of turnips on my place as other areas. I've used them quite a bit, but their draw to deer is quite short-lived (a brief period after the first hard freeze).That picture makes me have a strong urge to plant turnips, radishes, crimson clover and wheat!
On another thought, the biochar comment reminded me, For many years growing up in Putnam county down near the lake we had limestone with very little soil. My grandfather would pile wood slabs and woodland debris all year to eventually burn it down to ash and charcoal for our tobacco plant bed and he always had great plants from those beds.
In our area when they trim trees I'm always stopping the guys and offering places to dump the mulch and they are glad to, Last year I used my tractor and spread about 20 dumptruck loads of half rotten mulch on rocky fields and it worked greatLots and lots of crimson clover and wheat! Sadly, the deer aren't as fond of turnips on my place as other areas. I've used them quite a bit, but their draw to deer is quite short-lived (a brief period after the first hard freeze).
When we first started playing with food plots 25 years ago, we turned a fresh log-loading deck into a plot. The logger had piled up the wood trash in a big pile at one end of the plot and then burned it. To this day, that spot in the plot is still the best soil. Everything grows better in that spot.
Great idea!In our area when they trim trees I'm always stopping the guys and offering places to dump the mulch and they are glad to, Last year I used my tractor and spread about 20 dumptruck loads of half rotten mulch on rocky fields and it worked great