Hi Guys, Tried doing a search but did not find a lot of information. I recently cleared 3/4 of an acre and i ran a york rake thru it to get rid of the heavy debris. but what i found is a ton of rocks all over. My question is this....i know i can go thru and hand pick the rocks and i have no problem doing this and will end up with the area mostly free of rocks. Going forward is what i worry about, how or what do you suggest i plant that will not require the soil to be disturbed too much from year to year. I'm just worried about turning up additional rocks. And what will grow in this rocky environment. Thanks
Normally rocky soil is good soil. I hand pick mountains of rocks every season out of our plots. If you want less work turning the soil often then you need to plant something that lasts for years with little effort like clovers and chicory.... Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
If you've ever followed Dr. Grant Woods from HuntingdeerTV, he has some serious rocky country to deal with in the bootheal of MO. He no-tills all of his plots to keep soil disturbance (and rock disturbance) to a minimum. Arid land crops like wheat and rye do pretty well as do clovers but he also grows corn and beans. No-till is lagit, I farm about 700 acres in a zero till operation. Corn and beans require a planter but a couple of row units off a 7100 or 7200 john deere planter make a really good small planter and no-till drills can generally be rented for cheap from farm service agencies. Clovers, turnips and wheat and rye can also be simply overseeded at a 10-20% higher rate than normal broadcast with pretty good results.
Watch Deer Hunting Videos. Free. GrowingDeer.tv they have problems with rocky soil and address it in some of their videos.
A high number of crop farmers have went to no till for many reasons. More food plotters should look more towards no till or minimum tillage. Another advantage is leaving more residue on the soil surface which helps retain moisture. Having minimum tillage will also reduce the amount of weed seed that is in the soil, as some weed seed stays there deep in the soil for 20 or 30 years even. This is why I love frost seeding my clovers. I also use humics in my dry and liquid fertilizers as they help to condition "loosen the soil." I also like using radishes and other deep rooted cover crops to help reduce weeds and tillage.
