I figured I would post this up since it was easy, and cheap to make.

I have been working on clearing out a small area on our property to use as a second garden plot. I want to put a permanant garlic patch so I don't have to keep replanting yearly, plus a space for my wife to do her sun flowers and where I can do pumpkins and squash, since they tend to try to take over the whole garden in the other location.

As most people know, if you don't already have an established plot for growing food, you are already way behind, however, most people just hobby garden. Myself included. I figure I would have to plant an entire acre of staples (potatoes, corn, beans and squash) to even have a chance at making it a year on just grown food. Having the tractor with spare parts and the ground engaging implements in a great prep to that.

For those unfamiliar with Central NY though, this whole section of the state is basically a gravel and shale pit with a little bit of topsoil over the top whenever there was woods or a farm in the past, breaking through the top layer is just rock city, and trying to dig post holes is almost always a bad day. This also makes it a real pain to prep for a new planting area.

So this morning before I got started I made a quick and easy soil screen out of 2x4's and a roll of 1/2" hardware cloth, the 2x4's were in the stock pile, and the screen cost about 10 bucks. Then I used my small middle buster plow to start ripping up the area and breaking out roots.

This is basically what I found after busting everything up, might be able to sow corn into that mess, but it probably wouldn't like it much.



I took the screen and just worked down my planting row, toss the mess on and let it screen out until there is a decent pile, then clean up the trash and move down. If I had a front end loader I would just make a box screen in the corner of the property, but I don't and I rarely have work equipment at the house, so I get to get some exercise while gardening.



Once you move the screen you are left with a row of beautifully sifted soil that you can sow into directly. I even started doing my established garden since all I have ever done to it is pick large rocks and add compost, I pulled out a surprising amount of gravel sized stones.



Prep for food plots is often very overlooked, and many people don't realize how much work it takes to turn raw land into usable land. It's great to stock seeds, but they won't do a thing for you if you toss them into a gravel bed.

WOW... I don't know what else to say, just WOW.

No rocks in MO?

Loads of them here, every old boundry line is basically a 3 ft tall pile of field rocks.

I think the lesson here is that if a garden isn't already in existence, there won't be one after SHTF. That'd be a lot of work while calorie deficient and stressed.

Not if you have your food buckets

You're right though, if you don't have a garden plot already in use, you are basically screwed unless you own a lot of land prep equipment, and then it's valuable fuel to run it all.

In reality, you could probably sow corn in just about anything you find around here, since it is grown by every farm in the area in fields right full of rocks, but your potatoes need a little more care.

I would rather just spend a weekend getting a workout and then going out for a steak now, instead of doing it all too late.

Once I have a loader that I can keep at home I do intend on building a big screener somewhere, and keeping a fresh supply of screen soil and compost right in a stock pile.

Even the compost I get from the farm comes with rocks in it, they just end up there from scraping up the feed areas in the spring.

You are right on the money: those survival seed buckets are worthless.



You either have an established garden NOW, or you don't. If a true SHTF happened, there is no way most folks to dig a garden by hand big enough to matter. Even worse in your area it seems!



I have to say that the suck level for you is MUCH higher than for this area. Unless you happen to be on a mound of gravel (there are random hills of solid class 5 gravel around this area), it is nice topsoil then clay for 200 feet (literally). Not too many rocks in the soil. Biggest issue is typically the clay itself and roots.

Some areas have plenty of rocks but not where my farm is.
For anything larger than a flower bed a small tractor and rock rake is the way to go unless one has absolutely nothing better to do with their time.
If $$$ is an issue, cut and sell a few loads of wood and hire someone to rake your soil for $75 an hour... they'll do more in an hour than you'll do in a month by hand.

 

Bingo. And the learning curve. Our garden produced awesome results..the two years later...fizzle.. I need a soil test and be more attentive to it.

But we grow...we plant...we stock buckets for down time.

Also buy seeds yearly. And don't be afraid to try stuff..experiment.

+1 the first  couple of years my garden was more productive.  Then again the first year I brought in a few truck loads of aged farm manure.   Last summer was cooler too.

Anyways I like the screen idea.   I have a half derriered one, an old raised bed wooden frame with a screen the previous owner used as a drag on the gravel driveway.  I just shovel onto it and let it rain on it to wash the stone.  The screen is wrong, it's a weird screen, I think for stucco walls.  It's too fine I think.

What I need is some of that heavier woven screen that I see the highway department use on certain things.  Basically woven lattice of 1/8' wire for the one I'm thinking of with 1/2" squares.   The highway used the bigger gapped and wire thickness version for their screening.

My garden is the stone garden.  I had about 4-6" of soil above slate/shale bed rock.   I pushed the soil off and dug about 12-16 inches down and back filled with the soil, manure, and pond diggings.  Rototilled it again and after a rain had lots more stone shards surface.   This early spring I raked the surface stone into piles and shoveled them up and tossed them onto the aforementioned screen to let the rain work on it. It's over an area by the composter that I scalped with the loader by mistake.

Rock rake won't work for me,  I already took out the larger stuff and just have a lot of stone shards left.  It looks real nice when I till it but a few rain storms later shows how much rock is still there.

You need to keep your soil fresh, I throw a load of fresh manure on top of my garden each fall, it composts in over the winter. I have an unlimited supply at the farm though.

Apparently you also need to rotate crops, since certain things add and take different nutrients from the soil.

Good points, OP

Not a bad idea.  I guess we are lucky here in the Midwest.  Topsoil around here is great for planting.  I could dig up almost anywhere and plant  garden.  I would definitely till in some compost every year or so to avoid depletion of the soil but I could start almost anywhere.

yea, it's not that big.  I mixed it around but I'm not sure it makes much difference.  I moved the tomatoes from one side to the other, and moved the cukes to where the tomatoes were.   I also tilled the everloving snot out of it.   I have a 5 foot tiller so it's nothing to till it all up.  It's almost too soft when I'm done tilling.  Pillowy to walk on.

I think I might move the tomatoes right out of the garden this year and put them right up against the house and catch the sun bounced off the siding to help keep them extra warm.  Last summer was on the cool side and growth was a bit slow/late.

neat little tool , Ive used a landscape rake behind the tractor for the same thing fixxing land for people .



Gardening is like anything else , you are not going to just be able to read how to and be successful. Just like shooting , reloading , hiking ,climbing or fighting it is a practiced skill and experience with trail and error with the correct preparation to be successful consistently .   Back on the farm we had good soil , Ive moved about 40 miles west and
the land here sucks . It isnt rocky it is heavy red clay that is usless
unless you are making bricks .
Here is my garden at the house ,its only a 12 by 24  and it took 2 years just to get the land usable . lucky for me ,me and my dad have a 1 acre garden at his house and my uncle always plants over 5 acres of sweet corn every year . But it is a great size to try things out and to handle with no gas /power tools , such as a tiller .





it started as a 12 x 12 then I doubled it once I figured out what it needed




Now Im starting another one for my mother inlaw about the same size  , look at that heavy red clay .  Ive mixing in cotton gin trash to raise the organic matter up a bit , later Ill add sand to get the soil to be where it needs to be to produce consistently .