Weeds and lime

[Acre4Me]

Here is one of my soil tests from last season.

pH is high. CEC is too low (explained in the text). They don't test nitrogen bc it is variable - it was explained somewhere in the testing kit. The "mixed Vegetable" designation is one I picked on the form I sent in. There were many options (like fruit trees, strawberry bed, etc), so they can tailor the recommendations to the purpose of the soil.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Here is one of my soil tests from last season.

pH is high. CEC is too low (explained in the text). They don't test nitrogen bc it is variable - it was explained somewhere in the testing kit. The "mixed Vegetable" designation is one I picked on the form I sent in. There were many options (like fruit trees, strawberry bed, etc), so they can tailor the recommendations to the purpose of the soil.
View attachment 2407740

The extension office site refered me to here:
https://algreatlakes.com/pages/soil-analysis
I guess I have to contact them regarding how to get the sample to them. Which test do you recommend?

 

[Acre4Me]

The extension office site refered me to here:
https://algreatlakes.com/pages/soil-analysis
I guess I have to contact them regarding how to get the sample to them. Which test do you recommend?

The S1 is the basic test - they have a few S1A-b-AB options, but the S1 is the primary one you want. Price is decent, and get the one with recommendations. On the soil sample form (located on left side of the web page), there is an area to indicate what was previously planted there, etc.

As far as soil sampling - read their guide (also on the left side of the web age). Since you are going to mail it in, you will want to dry out the sample a bit or a lot bc it will cost more to mail water! You can treat your 30x30 as one plot or 2 plots or 4 plots as far as sampling goes. Generally, you take multiple samples over the area of interest then combine them into one sample. So, if you treated it as 2 plots, you would want to take several samples of one side, and several samples of the other side. Keep them separate and pay for two analyses.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Edit: nevermind the giant pile of branches. We rented a lift and topped a bunch of trees

The giant pile of branches got me thinking...

If legal where you live, you may want to consider burning that pile, then relocating your garden to that spot. One has to assume the fire would wipe out all of the weeds, and a lot of the weed seeds.

Plus, the ash and charcoal left over would be nice additions to your soil (you'd probably also want to add some clean compost, to help recharge any microbiology that the fire wiped out).

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

The giant pile of branches got me thinking...

If legal where you live, you may want to consider burning that pile, then relocating your garden to that spot. One has to assume the fire would wipe out all of the weeds, and a lot of the weed seeds.

Plus, the ash and charcoal left over would be nice additions to your soil (you'd probably also want to add some clean compost, to help recharge any microbiology that the fire wiped out).

I burned some of the weeds and what was left of my plants in there. My fiancee though said fire is bad for a garden. I'm not sure where he got that information though. My father always burnt at the end of the season and his parents do as well in their small garden. Anyone have info on this?

 

[chickengr]

I burned some of the weeds and what was left of my plants in there. My fiancee though said fire is bad for a garden. I'm not sure where he got that information though. My father always burnt at the end of the season and his parents do as well in their small garden. Anyone have info on this?

I heard as well that fire is bad for a garden. the beneficial insects, worms, etc get destroyed by fire.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I heard as well that fire is bad for a garden. the beneficial insects, worms, etc get destroyed by fire.

There is some truth to that (more micro-biome than worms and bugs, but still). I think adding in some nice active compost post-fire would help minimize the effect, though.

Just make sure the compost is weed free or you’ll be right back where you started.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

There is some truth to that (more micro-biome than worms and bugs, but still). I think adding in some nice active compost post-fire would help minimize the effect, though.

Just make sure the compost is weed free or you’ll be right back where you started.

Wouldnt tilling affect the microbiome as well? Tillers cut up worms...

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Wouldnt tilling affect the microbiome as well? Tillers cut up worms...

Yes, that’s true. It’s one of the big drivers behind the “no till” movement in agriculture.