This past weekend was one of cleaning and organizing my office/studio (still not finished), and tending to some homestead tasks that needed doing. One of those was caulking the chimney. The other involved a load of floodwater gravel to make a nice firm path between two of the terraced garden rows.

Caulking the Chimney

When we did the chimney cleaning last month, Rob noticed that the caulk was getting cracked and not doing much to seal it against the weather. So today, we went up on the roof to get that done.

Our house has two roof levels, and the top one is pretty high off the ground. I stood on the ladder on the first level, propped against the second level to pass supplies as needed up to Rob. I’m glad it wasn’t as windy yesterday as it has been today!

Planning the Garden for Next Season

Every year my garden gets a little better. Most of it is on a hillside, so it’s a terraced garden. There is one main part that is fairly level, though. I’m not terribly efficient at using my space, and that’s because I like to also make it decorative. For that, I use rocks to make retaining walls, and wood slabs that are scraps from Rob’s wood mill.

There’s a lot of space on the upper level that I haven’t developed yet, but I’m already looking at the other part I’d like to add in 2026. Before I can go into that space, though, the trees in there need to be cleared out or at least limbs need to be cut high enough on them to let in more sunlight.

It’s a south facing slope, but the soil is very poor and full of rocks. So it all needs raised beds. To help with making better soil for filling the beds, I started a worm bin this year. I’ll need several more worm bins to make enough of that supplement to go very far, though. In the meantime, I’ll have to buy garden soil in bags. Plus I use coconut coir to help give it bulk.

Floodwater Gravel

Rob brought me a bucket of gravel (and larger rocks). He’d been working on the driveway repairing damage from the flood weekend before last. Floods always drop nice piles of gravel in the creek, but not usually where we can easily reach it. This time, there was a good pile he could access with the tractor, though.

Terraced Garden Path

He dumped it over the garden fence, trying to get it onto the path where I needed it, but half went into the first bed. But that was alright, I just scooped it out and put it where I needed it. Green onions grow in that first bed, and I think they’ll do just fine even with what’s left of the gravel to grow through.

I didn’t get a photo of the ‘before’, but imagine a large pile of gravel with larger rocks mixed in. The first thing I did was get the larger rocks out and spread them out on the path in a walk-path sort of way. Then I shoveled the smaller rocks and gravel on top of those. After that, it was a hands-n-knees job of brushing all the gravel into the cracks between the larger stones I’d laid out initially until a semi-level surface to walk on appeared.

This gravel is almost like concrete in that there’s a lot of sand mixed in, and it packs down to a solid surface after some settling time. I love it. It’s one of my most valued resources for building my pathways in the garden. But it’s very labor intensive to gather if there’s no good access for the tractor. So, even though he can’t dump it precisely where I want it, I’m always happy for a tractor bucket full, dumped anywhere.

Wood and Rocks in a Terraced Garden

I love having natural resources like the rocks and wood slabs for building the beds. But I love using rocks to build steps in my terraced garden. While I like the way the rock walls look, the wood slabs do a better job of holding in the soil. So, I use them both and experiment to see what grows best and where. It’s a lot harder to keep the soil watered behind the rock walls, too, and in summer, the heat is greater in those beds. But that’s great for starting plants in the cooler spring months, I guess.

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Author/Artist Info
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I make Paleo Paints from the lightfast pigments foraged from Madison county, Arkansas, creating under the pseudonym Madison Woods. Most of the colors I use comes from rocks gathered from our own creeks here at Wild Ozark. I outsource titanium for white, lapis for blue, and grow garden thyme for yellow.

My inspiration is nature – the beauty, and the inherent cycle of life and death, destruction and regeneration. My work is a partnership with the land. Immersing in her color, absorbing inspiration, taking communion. A painting begins with a foray to collect rocks, soot and bone. Each pigment, alone a portrayal of beauty, combined in a painting, becomes a whole reflection of the very soul of the Ozarks.

My Portfolio is HERE

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I’m also a REALTOR® with Montgomery Whiteley Realty, under my real name Roxann Riedel. If you’re thinking of moving to the Ozarks of Arkansas and would like me to be your Buyer’s Representative, email, text, or call me at (479) 409-3429! And if you’re moving away from or selling property in Madison, Newton, or Carroll county, I’m happy to be your Listing Agent.