Rock removal

[Creamer]

Go no till and use a lawn roller to push them down. With a lot of mulch you will see your no-till garden do better than one that is tilled.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

The area I've done so far is about 30' x 250'. I want to do at least 2 more areas this size for our pumpkin growing project. Since the soil is so bad I did consider a few triaxle loads of "black dirt", but those are $500+ ea delivered for about 18 cu yds. And 1 load wouldn't even cover an area that size 1" deep. Of course the whole area probably wouldn't need covering....just make mounds where the seeds will start might suffice. Mulch remainder to keep weeds down? No idea, but think that would just delay the problem since at end of season would have same issue needing to till the topsoil mounds and dead vines into the ground?

So you're doing a fairly large area. Organic fertilizer like Milorganite or compost will get you started on improving your soil.

Mulch works great to keep down weeds but is expensive on such a large area. You can use landscape cloth or even newspaper, really anything handy will do.

This may seem counterintuitive but there's really no need to till topsoil or vines down into the soil. By next spring the vines will be mostly disintegrated. Just keep throwing the good stuff on top!

As Creamer said, "no till" all the way!

 

[52wej]

The red clay soils of Piedmont VA and NC grow rocks. They thrive here in Central VA, white flint rocks in particular! I have a garden spot that I have been working for 35+ years and I still get football size rocks from time to time. Frost heave is amazing. That being said adding compost and organic material is crucial to making the soils more productive. I have found a wonderful way to dispose of all of the leaves in my yard and over the years the red clay has gradually grown darker and more friable. But the dentist bill on my 5 ft rotary tiller has been pretty bad, at least one tooth a year.
To be honest I subsoil the garden every year to improve drainage and I know that brings more rocks to the surface. But I find that a 7 shank cultivator/tiller will help bring the larger ones to the surface where I can simply pick them up. It does not seem too make much difference if I plow the garden in the fall with a moldboard plow or not. I have learned to watch the rotary tiller and when it bumps as it does with a large rock, I get off with a hoe and dig the offending stone up. Saves time and teeth in the long run And I have found no other easier way for me to remove them. Hang in there. W. Jones

 

[oosik]

Wow! I feel your pain. My garden spot - about 120' X 150' - has NO ROCKS. I surmise its because the homesteader - somehow - removed them. I know the homesteader on the property immediately north - had five sons - and his cleared fields and his rock walls go on for miles & miles. Lord knows how long it took to clear those fields but I sure have an abundant supply of local rocks - if I ever need any for a project. All the neighbor asks - don't drop any back out in his fields.

I suggest - start small. Hand pick the rocks and expand each year. Sooner than you think - it will be the size you want. Taking it all on at once will only discourage you.

I've seen videos of those "rock picking implements" they appear to work very well - if you have $$$$ to purchase or anywhere that rents them. I doubt that there is a single one of those implements in this state.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I had my field reclaimed, besides pulling the stumps the excavator operator apparently also pulled the larger rocks. For several years I plowed without ever tripping the bottom, and rarely raised a rock over the size of a softball. Then I had this brilliant idea that if I plowed deeper I could bury all of the weed seeds so I went down about 16", almost the depth of my topsoil. While I didn't alleviate the weeds I did bring up an entire layer of rocks, and it isn't uncommon to trip the plow several times when doing the field.

 

[Creamer]

The red clay soils of Piedmont VA and NC grow rocks. They thrive here in Central VA, white flint rocks in particular! I have a garden spot that I have been working for 35+ years and I still get football size rocks from time to time. Frost heave is amazing. That being said adding compost and organic material is crucial to making the soils more productive. I have found a wonderful way to dispose of all of the leaves in my yard and over the years the red clay has gradually grown darker and more friable. But the dentist bill on my 5 ft rotary tiller has been pretty bad, at least one tooth a year.
To be honest I subsoil the garden every year to improve drainage and I know that brings more rocks to the surface. But I find that a 7 shank cultivator/tiller will help bring the larger ones to the surface where I can simply pick them up. It does not seem too make much difference if I plow the garden in the fall with a moldboard plow or not. I have learned to watch the rotary tiller and when it bumps as it does with a large rock, I get off with a hoe and dig the offending stone up. Saves time and teeth in the long run And I have found no other easier way for me to remove them. Hang in there. W. Jones

Earthworms will do a lot more to improve drainage than a subsoiler ever will. I would not have believed that except 40 years ago growing up on the farm we had this one field that was 24 acres and about 3/4 mile long, i.e. a long narrow rectangle. We had three lowspots in it that went all the way across the field and were often very difficult to farm. One year we harvested the wheat off of it and Dad said to haul truckloads of manure into the three lowspots. I thought he was crazy adding this much organic matter which will hold more water; it was literally 3-4 inches deep when leveled out. But the manure brought the earthworms up over winter and in the spring we farmed right across it and never have had a problem since. Of course 20 years ago my nephews who farm it now went no till and really work to attain to attain macroporosity, i.e. earthworm holes.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Earthworms will do a lot more to improve drainage than a subsoiler ever will. I would not have believed that except 40 years ago growing up on the farm we had this one field that was 24 acres and about 3/4 mile long, i.e. a long narrow rectangle. We had three lowspots in it that went all the way across the field and were often very difficult to farm. One year we harvested the wheat off of it and Dad said to haul truckloads of manure into the three lowspots. I thought he was crazy adding this much organic matter which will hold more water; it was literally 3-4 inches deep when leveled out. But the manure brought the earthworms up over winter and in the spring we farmed right across it and never have had a problem since. Of course 20 years ago my nephews who farm it now went no till and really work to attain to attain macroporosity, i.e. earthworm holes.

No-till all the way. Try it and you'll never go back.

 

[CMV]

Well, we spent this evening picking rocks - so much fun...:mur: I started on another spot ripping grass and getting it ready. another large area, but not quite as long. Was all set expecting the worst, but up on higher ground, nothing. Just let the rippers go all the way down and maybe found a half bucket's worth of softball sized and smaller. Totally different. My land is 2 levels - top and bottom. It's mostly all flat, but a distinct drop off of about 5' elevation change from top to bottom. Apparently "top" had a lot of clean fill dirt brought in and graded. Would explain why it's so soft, not rocky, but won't drain and holds water.

Anyway, got lots of grass ripped up. about as much as I can get with a box blade and loader bucket without digging and skimming off top dirt layers (and don't want to get far down into it and find another rock garden). So will spray some roundup and kill off remainder. But I can at least till this area with no fear of breaking the tiller. Will do next section(s) up there too and hopefully have the same success in rock-less ground.

Giving up on digging rocks in first area. Just walking around picking up, I saw at least 100 that need dug out. And they are probably sitting on more. Would be a never ending task I think. So will get some black dirt (topsoil from local company that's all compost and they do great - not chunks of wood or trash, just pure black dirt that's real rich) and make large mounds where the plants will go. Will mulch remainder with something to keep weeds down - wood chips probably? Whatever looks inexpensive and easy to spread a thick layer over that large area.

 

[52wej]

I absolutely agree that earthworms do make a huge difference in conditioning the soil. But much of the land here in Central Va. has been farmed since the late 1700's and most of the original topsoil was depleted by the early 1800's from poor farming practices. We add all sorts of organic matter as we are able to obtain it and we are SLOWLY improving the condition of the soil to where it is more appealing to earth worms. But that just takes time. It is interesting to see how the soils do vary across the country and you can see where folks have worked hard removing the rocks over the years. In the field where this garden plot lies there once were two large piles of rocks the size of small tractors where earlier owners had collected them over the years. I removed them years ago to use for erosion control in some drainage ditches and roads. CMV do not give up, if you do remove all you can find, the numbers WILL decrease over time. W Jones

 

[crazyal]

Rocks suck. I borrowed a root rake for the blade of my dozer and got everything bigger than a softball out of the ground in one area. I also have ledge and some of my rocks weigh the size of a small car. Since ding it I have expanded my yard and don't have access to the rake anymore. I don't know how big of an area you are trying to do but you could call around and see if someone with a dozer had a rake for it. Since it's not going to take long and if you are flexible you may get a good price to have someone stop and do it on the way to another job. I like doing things myself but a field of rocks is just a lot of hard work for a 45hp tractor.