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What to do with all these rocks?

 
Trace Chiodo
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Is sending them away on Facebook marketplace the best option? I am hesitant to put them in the garden pathways cause they're so permanent and don't collect solar energy for mulch. Any ideas on what they could be used for?

Some context is this is an urban farm in Minneapolis. There is a fire pit, a stage, and a garden.

Maybe around the fire pit is a good option?
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Pile of large gravel
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a community garden in minnesota
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a fire pit in a community garden
 
Timothy Norton
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Personally, I'm not a fan of rocks in pathways. I tend to put carbon-rich materials down on them, let them get trampled/processed through the season, and eventually dig out the pathways and sift the good soil that I built to use on next years garden.

Do you have any need for a rock base for an outbuilding by chance? Skidded buildings sitting on gravel can help reduce rot from accumulated water.

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Anne Miller
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The previous owner of our house left us with miles of rock about that size.

We used the rock to go around the perimeter of our house as a fire break.

Being urban you probably don't have a need for that.

Your yard and gardens are really nice and those grassy pathways look like a wonderful place to walk barefoot for `grounding`.

I vote for FB Market Place or Craig's list.



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Matt McSpadden
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Any low-lying wet areas? I don't know if it would use all the rocks, but digging down a foot or two and filling it with rocks would make a sort of french drain to let the water go there instead of pooling.

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Suzette Thib
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Bouncing off all of the good ideas mentioned, could you put down the rocks around the base and extending outward from the base of the fire pit?

"The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command." -Samwise Gamgee, J.R.R. Tolkien

 
Douglas Alpenstock
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Matt McSpadden wrote:Any low-lying wet areas? I don't know if it would use all the rocks, but digging down a foot or two and filling it with rocks would make a sort of french drain to let the water go there instead of pooling.


Matt beat me to it! Washed rock is perfect for this.

Placed on the ground without a geotextile, it will just sink in and become a pain in the butt.

Mostly, I would say sell it -- don't give it away either. Know your prices and offer a good deal.

Of course, this is all thermal mass right at your fingertips. I recall a RMH design using gravel. Could be good for a greenhouse heater?
 
Jay Angler
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Gravel around a fire pit has merit from the fire safety perspective!

Gravel on paths is a pain in my opinion because it's more annoying to control the weeds. Gravel walkways are known in some circles for being one of the more time-consuming choices. Grass can just be mowed! Wood chips eventually becomes soil.

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Trace Chiodo
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I love all these ideas!! Love you all.
Sell it, and put some around the fire pit.
I will look into the greenhouse idea. Do you think if I dug 2 ft trenches in the hoop house and filled them with rock it would raise the temp a little in the spring and fall?
 
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