We pick stone, rocks, boulders. What ever the size. I have filled the wheel loader and the skid steer buckets over and over, then we dump them in the back at the edge of the yard for more parking. There is nothing worse than kneeling on a stone and bruising the knee.
WOW. Great stories I love them. Now... sometimes we pick stones as a hobby or to give them a purpose, which is not my parents' case. They pick stones in the garden simply to put them somewhere else. They don't like when their tilling tools hit rocks. I myself, more into designs and flower gardens... give stones a more artistic value. Two weekends back I took the train and went about 50 km away to some mountains and forests by a river...and guess what i picked! STONES. Riverbank, polished, large (but flat) just perfect for stepping stones. Those 6 pieces were really heavy and pulling my backpack down! My parents thought I was crazy! No arguing there!
Stones with stories......On summer days about 100 years ago my grandfather was building a garden for my grandmother and needed rocks for the border. Unlike the glacial till found in my yard, his land 18,000 years ago was a riverbed with lots of sand and well rounded river rocks. Digging in the sand was easy, find the stones a bit harder. His 10 year old son (my father) would help him by gathering those stones, put them in his red wagon and pulling them to the garden site. My grandfather would build up raised beds and border them with the river rocks. When my father passed away my sister and I sold the family homestead but not before I removed many of the rocks and brought them to my own garden. Today worked by three generations, those same stones continue to perform their task of holding back soil in which are planted some of the flowers that once greeted the morning sun on warm days 100 years ago. Jerry
TODAY I picked rocks for the first time. My son made me a walk for my greenhouse and I went around and found all the flat rocks I could find and embedded them in the stones. Usually I pick up the rocks just to dispose of them elsewhere.
I love these rock stories too... Jerry, that is such a great story about the rocks in your garden. Cal, I've been there, carrying rocks home with my family looking sideways at me! But it makes them smile too. Carolyn, are you hooked?
Not yet. They were serving a specific purpose. Not having to haul them up the hill and not having to take them any farther than I had too. My fingernails are a mess now from working in the garden and picking up rocks today.
never been much of a rock picker but ive been wanting to find some flat ones lately after i found out butterflies like to rest on them in the sun. Also want to make a path of stones going around the garden in places.. now the kids love rocks, especially my oldest who always comes up to me and shows me rocks he found that he likes. Great stories above, especially the ones with age.. oh that reminds me, as a kid i was once was walking to town with my old best friend and his mum and the gravel on the main road was sparkly in nature so we picked some up and was convinced we could use the rocks to buy lots of toys! wish i coulda anyway..
Absolutely yes. I have been a rock collector since I was a kid. And I live in Missouri, our main crop is ROCKS. One friend from Iowa says we call 1 inch gravel topsoil here.. The soil is full of rocks here. Some locals say they migrate when you remove them. I think they might also propigate themselves? I keep a few buckets in my garden to collect rocks in for things like the driveway and potholes in my dirt road... I like to collect rocks for edging my flower beds, but since I no longer drive, it is very difficult to get anyone to take me out collecting rocks for my flower beds. rock wall at Sheba's garden ( photo / image / picture from AAnightowl's Garden ) rock wall my sons built ( photo / image / picture from AAnightowl's Garden ) Naked Lady lilies and rockwork ( photo / image / picture from AAnightowl's Garden )
Well done!,..a rock border looks a lot better than any garden center edging,..i look for rocks every year on my boat trips,..next trip is for black flint stone rocks,..glossy!.
You all are making me want to take a trip somewhere to find rocks! New Mexico... yeah... that's where I want to go! There just aren't very many here in "prairie land".
