Rocks in mounds

Yo,

Currently excavating in preparation for some Hugel mounds. Rock content varies from moderate to high.

I'm planning on gathering dirt from less rocky areas and swapping it with the rockier dirt.

I have also considered building a large sifter to 'filter' out the rocks.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and has perhaps left the rocks in, what was the result?

Thank you for your time.

Lief Kamhout wrote:Yo,

Currently excavating in preparation for some Hugel mounds. Rock content varies from moderate to high.

I'm planning on gathering dirt from less rocky areas and swapping it with the rockier dirt.

I have also considered building a large sifter to 'filter' out the rocks.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and has perhaps left the rocks in, what was the result?

Thank you for your time.

Have you watched any videos featuring Sepp Holzer or the Kramaterhof? If not I think a great start is on YouTube, called "water is life". He makes great use of rocks and in my experience rocks are mainly a problem if you're using soil machinery

I have not, I've read (mostly) one of his books. Its where I acquired the desire to get in on the hugelkulture party. I live far off the grid and the internet is all over the place, videos are often a no go, and I have a limited allowance of internet juice.

I'm going to remove larger rocks, and the extremely rocky soils I'll swap with less rocky soil. Some of the rocky soils I have are basically just rocks with a pinch of dirt.

If I find the time before starting to add dirt back to the biomass, I'll attempt to build a sifter.

I recall in one of Sepp's books him using larger rocks as heat storage. Placed on mounds and near plants to give them some warmth later into the day. The large rocks I remove will be applied to this, others will be used for small decorative/pollinator gardens near my abode.

Lief Kamhout wrote:I recall in one of Sepp's books him using larger rocks as heat storage. Placed on mounds and near plants to give them some warmth later into the day. The large rocks I remove will be applied to this, others will be used for small decorative/pollinator gardens near my abode.

There is some value in water savings in rocks near/on the surface as well. It sounds like you have a great plan, all i'd offer is that you might be able to move less soil and get better productivity by keeping some of the rocky soil, especially for the top layer of the mound. especially where you are (I'm far northern california so similar biome) rocks near/on the surface to wonders for condensing water out of the air and I've made rock mounds around the base of fruit trees that kept the surface soil damp all summer long without rain or irrigation. You can probably do less labor than you are thinking!

Thanks, I'll include your suggestions in my notes.

I'll take some reference pictures while working tomorrow.