I came across this post looking for 3/8 inch mesh as an even medium between the 1/2 and 1/4. I can definitely relate to the OP's scenario. Im sick of the rocks. Anything greater than 1/2 inch takes up valuable space that compost or loam can go. I'm in Massachusetts where we have very well draining soil (if you want to call it that) with sand and rock. Probably glacial moraine or outwash. I end up digging down 2 feet to remove the large rocks. People ask me why as they think I'm nuts. But down 2 to 3 ft is a nice sand layer with fewer smaller rocks so I figure it will be awhile before more are belched back up. I use a 1/2 inch screen and just scoop the top layer of that batch of 1/2 inch screened material with a 1/4 inch screen to capture a percentage of the pea gravel. Its alot of work with hand sieving but I've just started using a wheel barrow sieve on a swing (a smaller version of what the archeologists do) and it's the bomb. I'm building a trommel (smaller version of a sorting drum like what the gravel quarries use) and sieving will go much faster. I typically let the coarser grained stuff (1/2 to the occasional 1 inch that falls in) be on the bottom of the bed. I sieve finer as I go up.
