A recent trip to the Island of Korcula, in Croatia (where Dave’s family originated from), not only revealed extensive use of stone, but how well stones are a great mix with vegetables.  As a stonemason, this place is a very interesting place!

Fruit and Vegetable garden in Croatia retained by a stone wall.

Stones do not rot, nor do they leach nasty chemicals into the soil; instead they are a hardy permanent material.  Some plants that prefer a good source of heat to grow in, i.e. tomatoes, capsicums or eggplant, thrive particularly well in stoney soil, or planted with larger stones near their roots.

Croatian cabbage in really stoney soil.

The Croatian people are particularly resourceful.  Over the thousands of years the island have been inhabited, they have removed stones from the soil, stacked it along walls and used the cleared areas for growing fruit and vegetables.  To ensure the cultivated areas were not stomped down by frequent walking, they would walk their donkeys along the stone walls.

Stones are piled into walls.to create growing areas.

What was also of particular note, is that most people grew vegetables in their front garden.  They would have plots of land further away from the house as well for cultivation of larger crops, i.e. grapes for wine making or olives for olive oil.  Planting food crops in available spaces close to one’s house certainly makes a lot of sense – it makes life so much easier.

Edible gardens are often planted in prominent places.

If you are wanting to create vegetable gardens that are raised and require some sort of retaining work around them, or if you want your edible garden to look more aesthetically pleasing, try using stone, it always looks very natural and it has some wonderful properties.   You might even consider placing your edible garden in a more convenient, and even if it means placing it in the front garden or near your entertainment areas, it can still look great!