Most people think of soil as nothing but dirt. The soil on your property, however, should not be an after thought for your project! Will your soil be supporting a house foundation? Create a light travel walkway? Used to grow a food crop?
You can use the soils on your property for your benefit!
To use your soil properly, you need to know its physical characteristics, the load capacities, how easily it might be damaged by driving over it, how well it might hold water for a pond, how rainwater moves through your soil, and erosion characteristics.
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The soil testing recommended by extension services and gardening books typically looks at simple nutrients, which may not be helpful enough for how you are going to use soil on your property.
Are you going to grow a specialty crop that needs a certain type of soil? Can you get that soil locally, or will it have to be brought in from somewhere else, and will it adapt?
At our property we actually have more soil than when we first moved here. We keep all of the organic material on our property to build soil. We leave tree and shrub stumps and roots in to provide aeration and organic material. Our soil is also rich in nutrients because of a composting toilet and chicken waste that provides free fertilizer.
We can assist with questions about your soil. |
