Other Articles for Organic Gardening with Jeanne
Soil Types and Easy Home Test
Last week we talked about the importance of having good quality soil. During the week I heard a friend who is a doctor of naturopathy give a talk about the importance of minerals in the diet. She said something which really stuck with me as both a gardener and raw food proponent. She said, "We are created out of the dust of the earth." What is soil but the literal dust of the earth? If our bodies are composed of the same mineral elements (among many other things) that we find in the earth, and they get there through the consumption of plant foods, and our plants can only absorb what's in the soil…doesn't it make sense that building up your soil is actually the most important gardening task of all?
Yet before you add anything to the soil, it's helpful to know what you're dealing with. If you grow vegetables in patio containers or you've chosen to build raised garden beds and fill them with purchased soil and compost you do not need to test your soil. It's probably loam, the easiest type to work with. This is the shortcut I took to creating the vegetable, herb and small fruit beds here at Seven Oaks. We built raised boxes of pine lumber, then filled them with a combination of compost purchased from the local sawmill (another recycled product), organic compost from our compost pile, and cow manure from a local farm. The result is a nutritious soil that worked miracles with all of our root crops, supported excellent heavy nitrogen feeders such as corn, produced crop after crop of berries, and will need some micro nutrients for the tomatoes.
Most people choose to dig a garden directly into the soil around their home. Usually this is the backyard area. If you've got the sun and you've got some land, you can grow a garden no matter what your soil type. Over time, as you add compost and amendments such as manure each year, your soil will gradually become more and more like the rich organic loam gardeners crave and plants love. Any type of soil can be improved. The trick is knowing what kind you have to start with.
A Simple Home Soil Test
There are many ways to test soil, with each test providing different information. Next week we'll talk about a soil pH test. You can conduct such a test at home with a kit purchased from a garden center or take your soil samples to a garden center or the county Cooperative Extension office and request a test. But there's another simple at home test you can conduct to gain more insight into the current condition of your garden soil. This test will tell you the type of soil you have: sand, loam, or clay (and the variations in between). It was also tell you how much organic matter you have naturally in the soil, a good indicator of soil fertility and plant health.
To conduct this test you'll need:
• Clean glass jar, such as a clean and dry mayonnaise or pickle jar (ask a neighbor or friend for one since raw foodists are unlike to have either product in the house!)
• Soil from your yard
• Water
• Marker
Fill the jar about 2/3 full with water. Now fill the jar with soil, leaving about 1” from the top free of water and soil. Put the lid of the jar on very tightly. Shake the jar back and forth vigorously for about a minute. Now put the jar down on the countertop. Let the soil settle. After a minute, put a mark on the jar next to the first layer that settles out. This tells you about how much sand you have in your soil sample. Allow the jar to sit for an hour, and place another mark on the next layer. That’s your silt later, and shows you how much silt is in your soil. Allow the jar to sit for a full 24 hours, and place your last mark on the top layer. That’s the amount of clay in your soil.
Depending on the amount of each element – clay, silt or sand – you’ll know what you are dealing with. No matter what type of soil you have, adding organic material can improve it.
While different soil scientists and other researchers may classify types of soil slightly differently, the major classifications are usually described as:
• Sand
• Silt
• Clay
Sand is the biggest sized particle, with silt smaller, and clay the finest size. Because sand has big particles, it lets water trickle through more quickly. Sandy soils typically have good drainage – sometimes too good. This means that water, whether from rain or your garden hose, trickles down very fast. Sometimes this is good. If you live in a rainy climate, or you tend to over water your plants, letting the water drain away quickly is great. It means the plants won’t get waterlogged, or have too much water around their roots. On the other hand, sandy soil also loses nutrients quickly.
Clay has its pluses and minuses too. It’s thick and hard to dig in, which also means it’s hard for the plant’s roots to grow and move through the soil. It holds moisture, which is helpful, but sometimes can get too wet.
Soil types can vary from place to place. Even within one backyard, you can have pockets of different types of soil. Soil around the foundation of a house may be mistaken for clay because it’s so hard and
If you’d like to learn more about soil types and classification, the State University of Vermont has a scientific paper on their website: http://clic.cses.vt.edu/icomanth/02-AS_Classification.pdf It’s not exactly light reading, but it is comprehensive.
The information obtained from such a soil test can guide you to pick shrubs, trees, flowers, fruit, vegetables and herbs that will thrive in your current soil conditions. For example, root vegetables do well in sandy soils and to some extent, loamy soils, but they do poorly in clay soils. No matter what your soil, compost helps!
Next week, we'll talk a little about soil pH. Until then, send your questions to me at jeannegrunert@dishmail.net. Happy gardening!
About the Author
Jeanne Grunert is a writer and marketing consultant who moved from New York City to a 17 acre organic farm in rural Virginia. She writes about gardening, health and raw foods for many publications, and her gardening book, Get Your Hands Dirty – A Beginner's Guide to Gardening, is available in paperback ($9.99) and E Book ($5) at Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/get-your-hands-dirty-a-beginners-guide-to-gardening/8418683 ) You can read more about life on her organic farm on the Seven Oaks home & garden joy blog here: http://sevenoaks-jeanne.blogspot.com/
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These statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. The preceding information and/or products are for educational purposes only and are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, or treat illness. Please consult your doctor before making any changes or before starting ANY exercise or nutritional supplement program or before using this information or any product during pregnancy or if you have a serious medical condition.
Written by: Jeanne Grunert
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