Soil Test

SIMPLE: To grow better plants/crops with as little guessing as possible! Do you like to take aim when swinging your hammer toward the nail your hand is holding? Sure you do ... so you don't miss! Well, a plant "appreciates" it when you take aim at growing it. God has placed you in charge of His creation and we can take better aim. Plants genetically, like us, are designed by God to grow well and they will when they have their raw elemental materials which make all life function!

STARTING LINE: See what is already in the soil and add everything you can, up to the soil's TOTAL CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY (TEC)! Whether a TEC is small (1-7), medium (7-15), or large (15-40+). Do what you can before planting anything! Just try it! The first time you soil test and amend it might be a substantial amount of material (5#-180#/1,000 sqft), but by the next soil test, it generally is far less material and the next will be less, until you are in a rhythm of testing and putting on maintenance amounts that makes up for nutrients in the harvest and from losses from excess watering/rainfall. Your own body health will improve if you soil test, then amend based on a real measurement, and then eat from your own garden! You will be able to taste, smell, feel and see the difference!

FEED THE SOIL: Healthy plants are feeding the equivalent of 2-3+ cows worth of soil microbes on every acre (43,560 sqft) of soil! Plants need minerals in their photosynthesis factory to efficiently capture sunlight and manufacture quality food for the microbes and you. Soil elements are essential to be adequately present, not in excess or deficit, so that all forms of life really function. The more efficient we can make photosynthesis and protein synthesis, the more energy plants can put into soil to feed the life right around the roots and the more each bite means to our health. 

THE PROCESS:  SEND US YOUR 10 SOIL PROBE CORES (0-6.75" deep if tilling and 0-4" if not tilling) AND I WILL SEND IT OFF FOR THE BEST LAB ANALYSIS AND EMAIL YOU A COMPLETE SOIL TEST RECOMMENDATION! WE ALSO HAVE THE NUTRIENT INGREDIENTS AND CAN SHIP TO YOUR DOOR ALREADY WEIGHED OUT AND BLENDED. I CAN EVEN POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR A HAND OR CHEST FERTILIZER SPREADER AND YOU CAN APPLY THEM WHEN IT IS  CONVENIENT FOR YOU! YOUR JOB IS TO PULL REPRESENTATIVE SOIL CORES AT THE RIGHT DEPTH, TAKE AN ACCURATE AREA MEASUREMENT AND GET ME THE SOIL SAMPLE IN A ZIP-LOCK WITH THE ACCURATE AREA MEASUREMENT. 

STANDARD SOIL ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS WILL COMPRISE:

1. Total Exchange Capacity (TEC)
   1. This is your soil's total nutrient holding ability of cations (i.e. metals aka positively charged elements).
      
      1. Clay soils are roughly ~15-40+ Meq/100g
      2. Loamy & Silty soils are ~7-15 Meq/100g
      3. Sandy Soils are ~1-7 Meq/100g
   2. You can't do much to increase a low TEC on a large amount of land!
   3.  The larger the TEC the less frequently you need to add nutrients once the levels are built up ... other than the leachable anions (see below). 
2. BASE SATURATION PERCENTAGES including Lbs/Acre of:
   1. Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium & Sodium
      1. These "4 Major Cations" essentially establish nutrient efficiency, proper soil gas and water capabilities, soil pH, and more. 
3. Water pH
   1. Remember that Water pH is ONLY AN EFFECT of the BASE SATURATION PERCENTAGES. 
      1. Ideal Water pH balances to 6.4 when Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium & Sodium are balanced %'s for the TEC.
4. Humus %
   1. Humus is organic material fully broken down and it holds cations (positively charged nutrients) and anions (negatively charged nutrients). It increases the TEC somewhat but is not as large as many would think. Humus holds a tremendous amount of water and releases quite a bit of nitrogen in a season the higher it goes.
5. Lbs/Acre
   1. Phosphorus
      1. Root-Acid Soluble Phosphate (P2 Test) - primary test
      2. Olsen P test is used when the Water pH > 7.5 - secondary test
      3. Water Soluble Phosphate (P1 Test)- tertiary test
         
      4. Total Phosphate - rarely tested
   2. Nitrogen
      1. The higher the Humus %, the higher the ENR = Effective Nitrogen Release. 5% = ~100 lbs/acre of Nitrogen the plant can have for free.
6. Parts per Million (PPM)
   1. Leachable Anions - Careful of overwatering!
      1. Sulfur
         1. Sulfur builds sweetness, protein and fruitiness, larger roots, bigger stems and greener leaves.
      2. Chloride
         1. Chloride is for water management and you need chloride for hydrochloric acid in stomach. A little to the plants is good.
      3. Boron
         1. Boron is for improved pollination, more sugars in storage fruits/roots, better calcium intake.
   2. Non-Leachable Trace Cations - Build these once and they stay around!
      1. Iron
      2. Manganese
      3. Copper
      4. Zinc

HIGHLY ENCOURAGED ADDITIONS

1. 1. 1. Cobalt & Molybdenum
         1. For improved insect and disease management, your health or the health of your animals, you may opt to test for Cobalt and Molybdenum at an additional charge. It is worth the extra cost and for a small garden is very inconsequential. Your health is worth it and I think you should just make the investment.

REALITY: Please realize that soils are like momentum. Soil can take 1-3 years to build up to optimal levels after the initial large application but many effects can be seen in the first year. Nutrients I add, some of which are rocks, have to break down and be distributed and added onto the clay particles.

DON'T GUESS: Take my advice and don't guess. I see many garden soils where their soil test reveals huge deficiencies and/or huge excesses. For some reason, a garden produces a "MORE ON" effect where if a little is good one season and did such a good job, well the next year I'm going to put "MORE ON". This is one ditch. The other ditch is to never add anything and believe microbes are creators of elements and spontaneously poof every nutrient is right there at sufficient levels. Both ditches are extreme perspectives and soon the soil is treated in ways you don't find in nature and the quality and yield that soil can produce really suffers. 

Tape measures are good for constructions sites. Soil tests are good for plants. TAKE A MEASUREMENT AND APPLY ONLY WHAT IS NEEDED!

HONEYMOON TO BE KEPT UP: Once a soil's top 4" (untilled) or 6.75" (tilled) is ideal it doesn't stay that way as rainfall removes nutrients, irrigation water can add and lockup certain nutrients, and, most importantly, plants take nutrients up in their growth and we remove off a good portion of that in the harvest and the remnants go down the toilet ... literally. Just like you don't irrigate one time in a garden's life you don't soil test and amend once. A stitch in time saves nine so some frequent adjusting goes a long way to keeping in shape. Yearly soil testing is recommended for active gardeners and in really high yielding or sandy soils without much reserve, the soil needs to be looked at before the next planting evening if that is just 60 or 90 days after the last soil test. For instance, 40 tons/acre of Squash or tomatoes or cucumbers is doable and yet this will exhaust potassium, boron, and sulfur in a sandy soil. Retesting depends on if the factors are there where some nutrients have become deficient. It depends on your nutrient uptake rate. 

A fertile soil can be drawn down with plant growth and soon become a terribly infertile soil. That same terribly infertile soil can be made back into an excellent soil but it requires a human to re-establish it quickly. Nutrient excesses can be the most difficult to fix so measure first and then apply only what is actually needed. Adding nutrients to gardens tends to be done at the extreme so take caution as it can save on the grocery bills now and the medical bills later. 

INGREDIENTS: I prefer using known analysis ingredients that make nutrients available predictably. I use the best tools for the job.

COMPOST/MANURE COMMENT: While I would love to use more compost and manure, typically those organic nutrients don't come with a true batch nutrient analysis to know how to use it. Furthermore, with composts and manures one needs to, watch out for:

1. PFAS "forever chemicals ( Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) especially from biosolids
2. Persistent herbicide residues like Grazon and Stinger (chlorpyralid types). 
3. Heavy metals
4. Pharmaceuticals
5. Weed seeds
6. Excess sodium
7. Trash/glass/needles, etc.
8. HUGE BATCH INCONSISTENCIES IN NUTRIENTS SUPPLIED
   1. Compost nutrients are only what was in the feedstocks used to make that compost. Sulfur is typically very short in compost. 
   2. $$$ - It is expensive to take a compost nutrient analysis for small scale growing. Yet to know what the compost is, you really need a nutrient analysis.
9. Weight since mostly it is water
10. Very low analysis so more material needs to be applied but easily one can oops and put "more on" than is desireable. Plants can turn bitter from over-composting and getting the phosphate and potassium too high.

Compost is a great tool when used right but it is not the only tool. The previous garden plants can make your best compost addition anyway so why not start there vs bringing in unknowns?

Invest in a soil test for your own health for God's service. God's ways make sense, can be closely investigated and are repeatable. This soil test that I do was developed by William Albrecht and kept promoted and educated by Neal Kinsey since 1973. I have been to several classes of Neal Kinsey to bring to you what I understand and practice right on our own small farm. Specifically I have quite a bit of experience with growing vegetables on 4-7 TEC soils as well as vegetables on 10-20 TEC and excessively loaded desert soils. Yet true soil science works anywhere. 

I offer to you the ability to add more nutrition per bite.

Call or email with questions:

LESSON BOOK FARM

SHAWN: 719-377-1740

info@LessonBookFarm.com