Basic considerations for the construction of Stonemasons

Food production can be carried out from the point of view of the soil surface at any scale, since there are agricultural production units with large tracts of land that can be used to diversify a large number of crops that are essential for human food. But sometimes large tracts of land are not needed to establish the crops we want, there are some structures that can be developed in urban or rural areas known as quarries that are easy to make and that in this article we will explain some basic aspects for their establishment.

This type of structures can also be established in unproductive areas, since some type of solid organic fertilizer can be used that serves as a potential substrate for the growth and development of crops, they can be made in urban areas, homes and even in production units locating them as close as possible to the place where the farmers live, to facilitate the transfer of the harvest, it is important that the area where the quarry is going to be established there are not many trees to avoid excessive shade, it is also important to have water available in the nearby areas that allows the plants to be watered effectively.

For the construction of the quarries, any type of material that is easily acquired in households or agricultural production units and that allows delimiting the area can be used, such as blocks, bricks, concrete structure, stones, wood, bamboo, plastic containers, among others. These structures can be built with the following dimensions length can vary between 15 to 20 meters, they can be smaller everything will depend on the availability of land, the width can be 1 meter which will allow us to easily harvest the items that are in the center, depth can vary depending on the type of crop between 30 and 45 centimeters. If you are going to make more than one container, it is recommended to leave an approximate distance of 0.5 to 1 meter between one container and another in order to be able to move in those areas when you want to harvest the items.

The proper orientation of the stonemasons according to what has been reported by some researchers is the North-South orientation, because there is a greater possibility that there is a homogeneous distribution of solar radiation throughout the day. On the other hand, it should be considered in the area where the quarry will be established that there is excellent drainage to avoid flooding problems when there is abundant rainfall, also avoid excess shade as mentioned above due to the presence of trees or in urban areas by buildings or walls, also from the economic point of view it should be considered that the larger the quarry, or many quarries are made, the costs may be increasing.

Another important task that should be considered is the preparation of the quarry for planting, since, from there it depends on the success of cultivation in terms of production and yield, once the area has been selected, soil preparation should be carried out, if they are large extensions, machinery and implements can be used for tillage, of course if small areas will be established, weeders or any other tool that allows removing the soil that allows aeration of it can be used. After preparing the soil, we proceed to the formation of the quarries, which can be in two ways, the first with the application of organic matter and its mixture with the soil.

On the other hand, the quarry can also be established by extracting the upper 30 cm of the soil layer, then removing another 30 cm of soil with a weeder or similar tool, to then mix the extracted soil with organic matter, to then deposit this mixture in the place of origin of the soil and in this way the quarry is formed.

Dear readers, as you can see there are necessary methods for the establishment of a quarry either in urban or rural areas, the intention is the production of crops at different scales and in a more controlled way. Currently, a lot of use has been made of this production technique that does not limit people who want to produce their own food, on any floor area, no matter how small, it can be established by complying with the recommendations mentioned in the publication. Sometimes if we do not have a land area we can make elevated structures made with wood or concrete that is filled with a substrate of organic matter and soil for the good establishment of your vegetables.