rockytop

 

 

 

  This is what the soil on our canyon hilltops is like. You can see the very thin line of soil on top of the rock.   That is what is called the ‘topsoil’. Right below that in most soils you have the subsoil, which is the soil that is beyond the regular reach of your spade or plant roots.

 
   Our soil is so poor we have just the thin topsoil, and directly below that we have a fractured bedrock of shale which is clay compressed and turned into a light rock.

 
    In time shale can degrade into clay again. But high on the hilltops we are left with the shale… and as it slowly degrades through the actions of plant roots, alternate freeze/heat cycles, water and other environmental factors. As the rock particles are degraded they roll down the hillside, perhaps taking generations, until eventually they find themselves in a more level area where the clay will build up higher on the ground, eventually forming a soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Here is one of our gardens, dug by hand into the arroyo where some of those clay particles have settled. At this stage of the soil decomposition process we are left with the pebbles of shale that have rolled down the hills during rainstorms. There are some ‘fines’ (the very small particles of soil), but most of this soil is a pebbly composite that drains a bit too fast for most vegetables, but we are able to get corn to grow well as long as we water often (daily).  This pebbly soil is also very much ideal for most of the cactus we grow. 

 

 

 

   By this we can see that it is where you are; your local soil and climatic conditions that most determine what can and should be grown in your garden.  If you wish to grow something that will not thrive without extraordinary care, you wil have to coddle the plants through. Perhaps it is better to just grow what is adapted to your local conditions.  In the case of the corn, I’ll go out and give it water daily, because fresh corn is a special treat…. but for sales, for our cash crop, we’re content with the cactus. It grows well here, it thrives in fact. Our cactus is so well adapted to this environment, it’d be a shame to try to grow anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   This is the same canyon, but down at the bottom. The soil particles make their way to the canyon bottom through the many tributaries that feed the main creek. At the canyon bottom they spread across the wide level space… through the millenia they build up, raising the canyon bottom up, and enabling a wider space with fertile soil. The soil in this area is very fertile and supports a wide range of plants due to the watering effects of the creek.  Unfortunately, the sun doesn’t reach well into this deep recess of the canyon… so agriculture is not really practical in this portion, unless it were to grow plants that suited the environment.  Another factor to consider is the fact that the environmental regulations generally prohibit doing any kind of work along a riparian environment. In other words…. you face hefty fines if you clear growth along this area to grow anything, even if you do own the land!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Through the years, the rock particles, broken down into a dust as they tumble down the hillsides settle into this canyon bottom land. The plants will grow into the small particles, their leaves and roots breaking down through the years, adding to the tilth of the base, eventually forming a true soil that could grow almost anything.

 

 

   The photo at the top of this post is fairly representative of our soils on our small hillside farm. Through the years I have made it into a rich soil that is able to support our cactus in a good and natural manner. We have accelerated the soil breakdown/decomposition process to such an extent such that in five years time, we have good soil on a new patch of earth. It is not an easy process, but it is simple.. and it takes a bit of work.. but you cannot do it quickly. To achieve the proper tilth, you really must let it break down slowly by adding compost, and breaking it mechanically with a tiller or tractor. This must be done once or twice  a year, and the native plants allowed to regrow, then you till those back into the soil again.. the plant particles will exude an acidic substance that will help to further break the rock down. All of this takes time, and cannot be done quickly…in fact five years is probably a short time span for this kind of work. This is why governmental agricultural planning should be in long cycles and spans of planning.

 

 

   It is my thinking that in future years the good rich fertile soils of the lowlands will be covered over with houses and gyms and parking lots. The easy-land for our food will be converted into easy land for building. We will in time find ourselves as  a people trying to make arable land from the hillsides where our houses should have been built so that the good bottom lands could be used for food production.

 

 

   There are many constraints and problems with securing an adequate food supply. This is a quandary that we find again and again in human history.. and always we see that the cultures not able to adapt to changing conditions of weather and other factors will eventually give up and move out…. ‘The strong give up and leave, the weak give up and stay’.

 

 

 

~Rockytop~
‘Dolly Parton’

Wish that I was on ole rocky top,
Down in the Tennessee hills.
Ain’t no smoggy smoke on rocky top,
Ain’t no telephone bills.

Once there was a girl on rocky top,
Half bear the other half cat.
Wild as a mink, sweet as soda pop,
I still dream about that.

Rocky top, you’ll always be
Home sweet home to me.
Good ole rocky top,
Rocky top Tennessee, rocky top Tennessee.

Once two strangers climbed on rocky top,
Lookin’ for a moonshine still.
Strangers ain’t come back from rocky top,
Guess they never will.

Corn wont grow at all on rocky top,
Dirt’s too rocky by far.
That’s why all the folks on rocky top
Get their corn from a jar.

Rocky top, you’ll always be
Home sweet home to me.
Good ole rocky top,
Rocky top Tennessee, rocky top Tennessee.

Now I’ve had years of cramped up city life,
Trapped like a duck in a pen.
Now all I know is it’s a pity life
Can’t be simple again.

Rocky top, you’ll always be
Home sweet home to me.
Good ole rocky top,
Rocky top Tennessee, rocky top Tennessee.