On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 07:54:40 GMT, "Doria" wrote:

I have a friend with some goats but there are no fences to separate the lawn
and the area.

Uh, yeah... does the lawn need mowing g? Actually goats have to
be supervised, lest they crop the lawn down too far. Take a book out
there and ride herd on them.

Extremely rocky is rocks the size of basketballs and smaller (I think this
place used to be a creek bed) but still has soil not completely rocks. I
have dug about 4' down in several different places and it is the same
everywhere.
***I want to do this project at little to no cost.*** (I was challenged that
this is not possible)

They lie!

The resources that are available to me are horse, sheep, and cow manure from
local ranches, pine needles, leaves, and grass clippings from neighbors,
plus any other scrounging (cardboard, tires, so on).

Hey, you're home free! Many gardeners would love to have access to
such resources! Personally, I'd stay away from the tires, in terms
of soil modification, but everything else sounds right on.

I think that I am in zone 5 (zip 96104 California Mts.), with little
precipitation during the spring, summer, and fall with temperatures in the
upper 90's - lower 100's. Winters here regularly get below 0 F and we get
about 30"of snow or more.
The local "wild" plants in the area are Mint, Elder Berry, Wild Plumb, Choke
Cherry, Sagebrush, Bitterbrush, Lilac, Junipers, Pines, Fir, Quaking Aspen,
Poplar, Locust. I may have missed some but these are the ones I can
remember.
I am keeping a photographic log of the work and I will post the pictures
annually.

Fantabulous!

Please keep the suggestions coming.

I hope you don't have to do all the backbreaking rock removal, etc.
by yourself? Even if you need to hire somebody and bring in
machinery in the initial stages, do it, so you don't get discouraged.

Others offered some good suggestions, like rocks (if the right shape)
for walls, and oak leaves, etc.

Do a little research on composting and K.I.S.S. (keep it simple...)
meaning, don't go for fancy equipment solutions when you have the
space to just pile up the compost ingredients, cover them, and let
them smoke (remembering to moisten from time to time).

Will be looking for your updates!

--

Persephone