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[randyshipp]

From another thread:

As a newcomer myself, I'll throw in what seems to work for me (untill I decide to kill all my dwarves and do things a little differently  ).

Farming can only be done on certain types of ground but what I started doing was building the farms on the grass, surrounding it with walls and then build stairs down to my fortress. This way, you have your farming with a bit of protection (the walls).

When I set out to wall in a smallish garden outside, I hit a snag and did something ugly and inelegant to work around it.  I'd like to know the right way to do it.  I believe that when I tried to {b}{p} to lay down farm plots, I had trouble with the fact that there were some trees, bushes, etc.  I didn't know how to just clear the land, so I {d}{h} burrowed down a level, removed all but one of the ramps to free up space, and planted in my little recessed gardens.  What's the correct way to do this?

[JAFANZ]

Well that pretty much is the easiest way to get rid of pebbles & boulders I think.

I believe an alternative method is to build a floor or road on them then remove it.

To get rid of bushes, designate them for collection by your herbalist/plant gatherer.

To get rid of trees designate them for cutting by your woodcutter.

[slink]

There is nothing incorrect about what you did.  You just made a sunken, but still aboveground, garden.  A slightly more elegant way to achieve this, in my opinion, is to dig an underground pathway to the edge of the soil area that is to become a sunken garden.  Dig out the sunken area with <d><r>.  Build the wall around it at ground level.  Remove all of the ramps.  Now you can access the plots directly from the underground portion of your fortress and still have the walls one level up to protect the area from jeering goblins with pointy sticks.

As far as clearing a surface area, you can cut down the trees, harvest the plants, and remove dead shrubs by building dirt roads, but there is nothing you can do about boulders or patches of stone.

[randyshipp]

OK, thanks folks.  I like the suggestion about underground access!

[jaxad0127]

As far as clearing a surface area, you can cut down the trees, harvest the plants, and remove dead shrubs by building dirt roads, but there is nothing you can do about boulders or patches of stone.

Boulders can be turned into patches of stone. But unless you use DFHack, etc, you can't make those soil.

[Gnauga]

What you can do now is pave over the top of your aboveground garden with a floor. The tiles still count as aboveground-outside, and you can still grow aboveground plants on them.

[jaxad0127]

What you can do now is pave over the top of your aboveground garden with a floor. The tiles still count as aboveground-outside, and you can still grow aboveground plants on them.

This too. There is debate about whether muddied floors can be used for above ground crops. If so, you could do a silo for all your crops.

[Jake]

There is debate about whether muddied floors can be used for above ground crops. If so, you could do a silo for all your crops.

I succeeded in .31.18, for what that's worth.

[proxn_punkd]

There is debate about whether muddied floors can be used for above ground crops. If so, you could do a silo for all your crops.

I succeeded in .31.18, for what that's worth.

Well, I know what my next megaproject is going to be, since I'm importing sand and have access to magma. Green glass greenhouse!

[EveryZig]

What you can do now is pave over the top of your aboveground garden with a floor. The tiles still count as aboveground-outside, and you can still grow aboveground plants on them.

If you channel, you don't even need walls (if the terrain is level); just 'floor' at ground level to act as a roof.

I have used this method to have surface plants in my Deep Fort (Deep as in below the third cavern level) by using a cave-in to drop a layer of soil wall/ground through 19 z levels.

[AdeleneDawner]

Dig out the sunken area with <d><r>.

Make sure you clear the trees out from the level above if you do this. Every so often, I forget to, and I wind up losing a miner or two to the resulting cave-ins.

Alternately, you can designate with d-h from the level above, which will skip the tiles with trees on them. You'll still need to cut down the trees, but this way you don't have to wait for your woodcutter to be done before you can start digging - just go back and d-r or d-h (but not plain dig!) the squares that the trees were on afterward.

[SirAaronIII]

You can farm muddied aboveground tiles in .25. I just tested.

[slink]

Dig out the sunken area with <d><r>.

Make sure you clear the trees out from the level above if you do this. Every so often, I forget to, and I wind up losing a miner or two to the resulting cave-ins.

I forgot to mention that, yeah.  I always cut the trees first anyway, because they are useful. 
 

[Triaxx2]

Plus it annoys the Elves and who doesn't love doing that.

If you're really interested in dwarf farming above ground, you can roof it over with green glass. If you're crazy, you can use clear glass. If you're a true dwarf, you'll use crystal glass.

[Dorf3000]

Plus it annoys the Elves and who doesn't love doing that.

If you're really interested in dwarf farming above ground, you can roof it over with green glass. If you're crazy, you can use clear glass. If you're a true dwarf a magician, you'll use crystal glass.

Fixed that for you.. Crystal glass has been completely broken for some time now, you can't make it even if you have mined rock crystals and have everything else you need.  The best you can do is import raw crystal glass, cut it, and make 'gem' windows.