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A retired surveyor at a Tulsa garage sale told me to check soil color before digging, and he saved me weeks on a Roman site
I met this retired surveyor named Dale at a garage sale off Route 66 in Tulsa, and when I mentioned I was digging a Roman villa site in Italy he said don't trust the maps, trust the dirt color. I blew him off at first because who listens to a guy selling 1970s garden tools, but after six weeks of digging in the wrong spot near Rome I finally tried his trick of looking for that dark reddish-brown soil that means old burning and dumped ash. Within two hours I hit a mosaic floor edge that the official survey missed by 15 feet. What old timer tip did you write off and then end up eating your words over?
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the_brian1mo ago
Ever hear the one about checking for frost cracks in the soil before you pour a foundation? My uncle swore by it and I figured it was just old guy nonsense until I watched a whole patio heave up two winters later. Turns out the ground tells you things no fancy report ever will, and Dale's dirt color trick is the same kind of wisdom.
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