Stoney garden

I have a stone covered garden and thought I would 'dig' it up for a veg patch.
so this is how far I've got there was about 5cm if bigger stones then 2_3 cm of smaller stones/ big grit and a bit of clay soil so I now have nearly a small square after lots of effort. underneath is some rather tough sticky clay.
Was going to fill with compost/ clay mix.
Do I need to dig the clay bottom after removing the remaining stones?
Shall I put the smaller stones in as a drainage layer?
Would it have better too make a container to go on top of the stones with an open bottom? Didn't do this as I only have half a bag of compost at the moment.
I currently have lettuce cabbage and pea seedlings
Any ideas great as I'm another new gardener.

 

ÒMG @Ruth82 I've never seen such a challenge! I hope someone over tnere gives you some suggestions. Me, I'd have gone with pots. But that is because I am not as ambitious as you. All those stones would be great for weighting the bottoms of pots for good drainage and not tippee canoe

 

Hi Ruth82,

Are you turning the whole area into a veg plot?

If you are you could make raised beds out of timber and then just take out the stones that would be inside the bed and any weed membrane if there is any. Fill the bed with compost/soil and the rest of the stones could act as paths in between the beds. How big is the area?

Rusty

 

Thanks for having a look mostly doing this due to having a few seedings on the way and not enough compost or pots to cater for them and a bit of a project while I'm not busy.
Thought the soil under the stones would help stretch out my compost but is pretty tough stuff, and I only have a trowel and hand fork too!
I would only be doing about a 1 by 2 meter area that I can re fill if I decided it's not for me in the future.
Have piled up removed stones too the side for now.