permaculture

[Paul Wheaton <paul@richsoil.com>]

> My guess is that most crops don't readily take in your field because the 
> rainwater doesn't even slow down in the gravel. It doesn't hit bottom until 
> it 
> reaches the water table.  Your seedlings half get started, then expire from 
> drought the first breezy afternoon.

There's a lot of truth to that - but not absolutely true. Plus, with a lot of 
these
experiments, I would try a small patch and then carry water out twice a day - 
first
digging around a little to make sure that a quarter of an inch under the 
surface is still
slightly damp.  I think it has more to do with CEC.  Plus, it's just more 
like dirt than
soil.

> Any absorbent, bulky material you can find to leaven your field of rocks 
> will 
> help retain water. Organic materials are easily the best. Depending on 
> price, 
> hay might be better than peat. Peat's pricey. If you buy hay, be sure to 
> feed 
> it through a chipper-shredder one time to turn it into powder. Then till 
> the 
> powder in (one pass is fine) so it mixes with the grit. If you have a lot 
> of 
> leaves, shred them too and spread them on your field before tilling. This 
> method is labor intensive, but will retain your water much better.

For mulching trees and the garden, we've been using a lot of hay and straw 
(depending on
time of year, nitrogen needs, etc.)

But laying hay over 80 acres?  That's why we've been exploring the living 
mulches.  So
far I'm damn glad that the peas do so well.

> Last ditch suggestion: see whether your local municipality has any leftover 
> mulch.

Sorry, too much clopyralid used in our area.