I use pavers I had left over from a patio project. Aesthetically pleasing with the continuity and all that. Plus they're flat to put stuff on. If I had some decent rocks I'd consider using those as well, just to throw everyone off. ;o)

Dan

Interesting....I have not read Eliot Coleman's book. Can you explain the reasoning for using rock mulch? Does the rock mulch absorb and hold the heat of the sun?

Rachel
GrafixMuse's Garden Spot

Grafix; exactly we had a very cold dry spring here I added the rock and put out the peppers. It was a desperate move.
One; we have a flower bed that will keep flowers late into the year. I have see flowers poking through the snow. It is built around a landscape bolder 2ftx3ftx18inch high that holds the heat
Two; wall of water idea.
Three; I just read Eliot's book and he recommends it, He is on the same latitude as me.
I just would like to here more on the idea?

Curt :-)

Thanks for posting this. Two years in a row I have grown fantastic peppers along the south side of our white painted house. The additional warmth from the house helps them grow more quickly and escape some of the problems our long, cold, rainy spring and summer. I hate to put them out in the main garden but know I need to rotate. We have plenty of rocks so I will try a rock mulch. I live near Concord NH but an hour north of us in the the Sandwich mountains (just below White Mountains) I have seen raised beds with rock edges, precisely to store heat. The gardeners said they have about 20 days fewer gardening days than we do in my area.

I think I would have roasted peppers on the vine here in AZ if I mulched with rock. They had enough trouble getting through the summer as it was being close to a wall. Didn't even have pollination until it cooled down end of September!
But, I'm still getting the occasional eggplant and lots of habaneros and cowhorn peppers now.
I'm picking some tomatoes off my patio tomato today and my October planted Early girl and Sweet 100 are blossoming and have little babies. The Early girl grew over 40" in 30 days with very little sun. (great spot in summer when we have to shade our tomatoes to keep them alive but not so great in winter)
I've been mulching with wood shavings like you use to bed horse stalls with. It's nice because in just a few months they are rotted and improving the soil, time to add more. They shrink down from 6" to nothing and really make the soil nice quickly. Seem to keep my soil cool and let moisture in easily but not too easily if it rains really hard.
The elderly couple who first owned our house did the entire 1/2 acre in plastic/gravel and river rock. I will never be able to get rid of enough rock to be able to make the gardens that I want in my lifetime! It's a mess.