The Science in Soil

The science of soil and plants seems straight forward in grade school. Plants need sun, water and soil or dirt to grow. My science teacher skimmed over the details of the nutrients found in the soil and time marched forward. Now that I want a garden to grow, those skimmed over details are much more important. Figuring out nutrient ratios for the different plants in my garden is not my idea of a good time. The nutrition of animals is much more interesting. However, I do want to grow vegetables and maybe some fruit.

Over the past spring and summer, the plants have not been thriving. My carrots were especially disappointing. After a full growing season, the tops were lovely but the root might have been big enough for a Barbie doll. It is now time to submit soil samples for testing.  The clay is a lot better than sand but we are surrounded by trees with only a few areas getting full sun for 8 hours.  To me this means I really need to get the nutrients down because I don’t have much room for error. 

The cool part is that in North Carolina, The North Carolina Agronomic Services will test your soil for you. Before December, it is free and depending on where you are in the state, you can drop off your samples at your local Cooperative Extension.  More information can be found at the Agronomic Service website as well as the forms.

My next step is to take samples from a few spots in each area I want to put plants. Results are tracked by choosing unique identifiers.  Once its submitted, I just have to wait and then try to figure out what the results mean. The more I learn, the more I realize exactly how much science is in soil!