Eli felt foolish.
He'd been so focused on keeping the soil moist that he hadn't considered how hot the stones themselves could become.
He remembered Grandpa's warning.
Rocks won't make rain. And they won't forgive you for using them wrong.
Eli removed the stones from the immediate planting area.
He used pale rocks farther from the stems, leaving space for air movement and plant growth. Where he had access to clean straw, he added a thin layer of organic mulch around young seedlings while keeping the stem crowns clear.
Then he tested again.
He borrowed a simple soil thermometer from his science teacher, Ms. Elena Alvarez, who had encouraged him to keep records rather than trust a single observation.
She lived in town and taught middle-school science.
She was thirty-one, energetic, and known for insisting that students explain how they knew something rather than merely announcing what they believed.
When Eli told her about Grandpa's stone garden, she was interested.
Not because she thought the rocks were magical.
Because the experiment offered a chance to compare soil treatments.
She visited the farm one Saturday morning with Sarah's permission.
Eli showed her the North Bed.
The wheelbarrow.
The planted rows.
And Grandpa's notebook.
Ms. Alvarez crouched beside the stones.
“What's your main question?”
Eli thought.
“Whether the rocks can help plants use less water.”
She nodded.
“Good. How are you measuring that?”
He showed her the moisture readings.
She examined them.
Then looked toward the field.
“Are your comparison plots getting similar amounts of water?”
Eli hesitated.
“I'm trying.”
She smiled.
“Trying is a start. But if one area gets more water than another, you won't know whether the rocks made the difference.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I didn't think about that.”
She shook her head.
“That's why we do experiments.”
Then she helped him plan a simple comparison.
One small plot would use the stone-and-organic-mulch arrangement.
Another would use organic mulch without stones.
A third would remain a carefully managed comparison bed with exposed soil.