Oh, or you might try using the boulder as a heat sink, and plant stuff on the north side of it that could use a bit of cold protection! If it’s going to be insistent on staying put, you could use it as a method of season extension. Maybe put a hoop house over that spot, and see if you can plant warm season crops sooner than usual or keep them alive longer than usual.
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Waffle beds sound fascinating! Hadn’t heard of them before, but found this guide/history:
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Also look up Zai pit
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And the larger demi-lune.
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“To start making your waffles, the soil must contain a significant amount of clay in order for the walls to hold.”
Well, that rules me out!
(Wry grin.)
So it won’t work in sandy soil. But there are plenty of desert gardeners with clay soil who would do great with that.
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I think something like the Zai pits would work for you. There is variations on it where you make like fish scale pattern on contour. So you plant in the depressions. And if you get a good rain the depressions will overflow into the neighbors and below. Keeps the water funneled to the plant roots and slowing it down to soak in.
Also if you have stones you may be interested in gabions for water catchment. I think Geoff lawton has videos on that.
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Hmm. Actually, now that you mention it, stones (or wood chips!) could probably be used to make walls just like waffle beds. Gabions have interesting possibilities, too. Especially if they would also work to store some heat, and you could plant something not quite hardy to your zone on the south side of it. I seem to recall David the Good mentioned that in Push the Zone as a good cold protection technique.
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yep, sun scoop I think is the effect you’re talking about
Hmm. Come to think of it, there’s definite potential for something like that in my yard. The south wall of my house isn’t great for plants (since it’s my driveway), but I am planning to plant fruit trees along both the south and north sides of my yard. I could plant on the south side of the south trees for things that can use a little extra protection in winter, and that still need access to sunlight in summer.
Now I’m wondering if my front yard could do something like that, too. That may be interesting.
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I skipped to the end, so my apologies if someone already suggested this, and my apologies again, because I do not know who to credit. Years ago I read an article about dry land gardening, and they experimented with planting corn more deeply than normally recommended, the rationale being that the roots would be deeper in the soil, and therefore access the moisture deeper in the soil as the top dries out. If my memory is correct, they found that they could plant corn six inches deep and still have it sprout. I have not tried this myself, so take it for what it’s worth, but it might merit an experiment at least.
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I have read this too, and that it was a technique used by the Native Americans of the southwest.
Also, I’m surprised nobody mentioned Okra as a good dry crop… It is my #1 zero input crop through the spring, summer, and into fall.
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It’s not a scientific protocol, but an experiment nonetheless…
I grew corn and the summers it suffered much of the dry.
For 2 years I made corn Painted Mountain (landrace), it is more rustic and by gaining 15 days on the seedlings I noticed that I no longer have a problem of drought.
hypothesis:
- this landrace has a more powerful root system that will seek deeper water, but I do not feel by pulling a foot
- it has a particular genetics that makes it resist dry
- the delay of early sowing is sufficient for it to benefit from more water under our climate in connection with its growth stages
In order to establish a tiered system of cultivation as in the oases of the Sahara, I think that trees in desert areas can provide cover for wind and sun to fight drought on the crops below.
They will of course consume water but then also succeed in raising water from the depths, and bring by leaves and small woods of organic matter that will help make the soil richer in humus.
Chilopsis linearis, Quercus arizonica, Fraxinus velutina… could be examples for arid zones USA
Genista aetnensis, Quercus Ilex, Fraxinus ornus…could be examples for arid areas Europe
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I have done as deep as 12 inches. Slow emergence, as might be expected, and fewer survivors. It was a one-time test that I didn’t have time to follow up on. Sandy soil.
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I read what you were talking about too but it was a particular type of corn that they were using that was had been used for a long time just for growing in that condition
I think many of the southwest heirlooms can be planted this way as long as you have a dry climate and sandy soil type.
“Traditionally, corn seeds were planted deep in the ground, around 6-7 inches deep, where soil moisture is retained.”
Seems it was a common technique for the Navajo.