Soil Test Results for 2011

For years we avoided soil testing but last year we finally got around to it (soil testing and Soil test results) and found our soil profile was wanting. So we took steps to remedy the situation and applied a lot of sulfur (I believe 200 pounds to around 1.5 acres worth of beds) and 500 pounds of McGeary's fertilizer (I don't remember off hand the NPK ratios, maybe 7-10-5, maybe something else) along with foliar feeding fish and kelp.

Retested the top area November 18th and got the results back yesterday and here they are with last years results below this year's. Now that we have two years of data we are beginning to see what is working and what is not. We are losing boron but that could be as much (maybe more) because of record setting rains in the spring and fall and we tested during a wet time. We are gaining Organic matter which is still low but a lot higher than last year and when it gets to where it should be (I think around 3.5%) than the boron deficiency should be remedied. But until than we will apply boron in some form. Our Potassium and Phosphorus are very low and lower than last year. Green sand and rock phosphate will be a big part of fixing those deficiencies. our sulfur is going up so we know that applying all that sulfur last spring is working for us but we need more. We are losing zinc which ain't good but both seaweed and zinc sulfate will help. Nitrogen is low too.

Looks like we will be spending some money on soil amendments in 2012.

Soil Test Results

Got our soils tests back from Spectrum Analytic. We did two tests one for what we call the top field, which is where the bulk of the market garden is (around 3.5 acres). And what we call the bottom filed the which is at the bottom of the 40' pitch

What we found is our soils need lots of improvement and that there are big differences between the top area which is listed on USGS maps as badly eroded. Probably due to the fact that the field is at the beginning of a water shed which means it is a drainage area and thus has lost lots of top soil over the years. Add to that the fact it is also a terminal moraine which means there was a glacier on that very spot about 10,000 BP grinding away the soil. And there was probably a huge flood at some point judging from the deep ravine running through the middle of our property (most of which is now a pond) that was obviously cause by some sudden scouring-like a flood cause by an ice dam breaking withing the glacier as it was melting/retreating.

Test results for the top field

The top area is good on pH, Calcium, Copper, and Manganese. It is high in magnesium and iron and low in Potassium, phosphorous, sulfur, boron, and zinc.

Test results for the bottom Field

The bottom area is good on boron, copper, manganese and zinc. It is high magnesium, Calcium, and iron. It is medium on potassium and sulfur. It is low on phosphorous. the pH is very high, almost off the charts so we need to get the soil a bit more acidic.

We also found the the organic matter is much higher in the bottom area than the top-2.5% vs 1.5% (and we are pretty sure we have greatly increased the OM in the top area over the past 5 years)

We thought we also had gotten a nitrogen test for both areas but it seems we did not. But still there are reccomendations for applying nitrogen and it seems we are good to a bit low.

It is real nice to know all this information about our soil. No longer are we just taking blind stabs at feeding the soils and hoping we are doing something good. No longer will it be a complete mystery why some crops do poorly and others okay. Now we have the information to start doing some real improvements to these soils. Boo Yah!

Soil Testing

A soil test gives you a good idea what your soils need to be healthy and productive. they are an important tool for farmers. And yet this is something we have not done on this farm until now.

Why haven't we done soil testing? Partly because it is a pain in the ass to do. It is not hard to take soil samples but it is time consuming to do, even the 2 tests we did involved taking 30 soil samples which took around 3 hours. Partly because we had some many other things to do on this farm such as putting in thousands of perennials, opening up 250+ beds, etc., etc.. So soil testing was put on the back burner.

But last November after attending the Wisdom of Berries workshop in Columbus we decided it was rather important that we get some testing done on our soil to see where we are. And it helped that we got information for a well recommended soil lab in Washington Court House, OH.

So Sunday enough snow had melted that we could go out and take soil samples and that is how we spent our Sunday afternoon

Eugene is clearing away the top 2" of soil with a pointing trowel (which he used for archaeology projects)

Plunging the soil probe 6 inches into the soil

A soil sample

Sample goes into the bucket where it will be mixed with other samples from the area. here Eugene is using his trowel to get the soil out of the probe. We quickly learned to use a finger to push the dirt out of the probe

Another soil sample. I believe there was a bit of contamination at the top of this sample and Eugene is knocking that off so it does not go in with the other samples and thus contaminate the batch

Samples ready to ship to Spectrum Analytics

We sent these samples off Tuesday and should have the results by early next week. I will endeavour to scan the results and post them here.