Soil Testing, You Can Do It Yourself!
Simply obtain a few samples totaling about about two cups from the total area you intend to be working with. If you have an area over a few hundred square feet, such as a garden or a lawn, I highly recommend that you obtain your samples from a several different locations. This provides an average of the entire area. Follow along with the slide show above. You can use a scrap piece of PVC or brass pipe at least one foot long. Wrap a piece of black electrical tape about two inches from the bottom to show the target depth. A hammer makes short work of inserting pipe without having to push. A piece of coat hanger will pop it out of the bottom. After you get all your samples together, pick out the stones, grass roots and whatever else is obviously not soil. Take approximately two cups of soil and place it in a zip lock baggie.Now call your local county cooperative extension office. You'll find the listing in the county government section of your phone book. These people are very helpful and informative. It's worth making the contact and getting to know them. Find a local office here Your cooperative extension agent will be able to tell you how your sample needs to be packaged and may even have a pre-addressed box for you to use to ship to the lab. A basic report should not cost you more than ten dollars. I have often used a priority mail envelope and it's ready to go for under five dollars. I've found postage less expensive than shipping samples as a parcel as I don't have to buy a box or tape.
Okay, I've got my report, now what? The hardest part of this is interpreting what all that data means and knowing what to do. Most labs will tell give you recommendations for how much chemical to use but unfortunately getting organic recommendations are unheard of. I have found only one website so far that offers organic recommendations. They charge $39 I will give you mine for free if you promise to let me know if you how you made out. Deal? Just click for your free copy of my article,
An Organic Gardener's Guide To Soil Remediation
( Psst! Don't tell anyone, but this is really all part of my sinister plan of converting masses of unwitting people into embracing a sustainable organic lifestyles). Imagine that. Need some help?
Do you need some help? I'd love to assist you, just submit it in the form below. I hope that you found this page informative and that it made you start asking questions. I'd love to hear about it and so would everyone else. How Much Lime Do I Need?
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