If, for some reason,you need a soil test then have it done at a lab. They are more accurate but, more importantly, can tell you about the other make up of your soil other than the ph level. If you just want to know about the ph level then it's better to invest $15 in a gardening book for the region or just call up the local agricultural office and ask about soils in your area.

In general soil tests don't do a lot that just looking around the neighborhood or asking at a garden center area can't tell you. Ph levels are more or less stable and not much you can do except be aware of plants that don't like either extreme acid or base soil...those plants are rare.

Well I live in KY so we don't really have soil we have CLAY! & Unless you're growing rocks or those little ugly green bushes that everyone shapes into balls you're out of luck. I have made all raised beds and filed them with topsoil that I get from products that I purchase from Home Depot. I use a mixture of 1 bag of topsoil, 1/2 a bag of manure and 1/3 of a bag of their black satin mulch (I like it because it's very fine wood with a kind of top soil mixed in). I don't know if this is a good mix but everything seems to do fairly well in it. I'm just wondering what I can do to make it better. I've started to compost but haven't added any of it to the soil just yet. This will be my 3-year on my big area, so I'm sure that it's probably ready for some type of boost to the soil and figured a PH test was the place to start.

Strouper

In general organics are on the acidic side. Rainwater is also slightly acidic (usually around a 5 on the scale). The big variable is the water you are using to water your beds. If you are on a utility they can tell you the ph...or if you use well water then the agriculture division in your area should know. ('Hard' water is high on the ph scale). Some inexpensive litmus paper shold be able to tell you the ph of the water. Your pharmacist might have it or even give you a piece gratis if they don't sell it. You probably have high PH but no issue with your beds if you are adding organics.

One thing that might help your soil is some garden sand (not builders sand). Having said that, however, your current mix is a good one. Perhaps just a little high on the manure but that depends on what you are growing. I'd stick with what you are doing if you have had good results to date.

Another hint if you live in an area of acid or base soil is the use of lime in the region. If garden centers stock up on lime then probably soils and water is acidic...if no lime is sold in meaningful quantities then base.

I agree with all that has been posted but if you still want a soil test, then use th money to get a good laboratory one done. Pass on the little home test kits sold in the garden store.

everything seems to do fairly well in it

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :-)

The "soil Test" kits sold in most garden centers are very unreliable and I have found, as have many other people, that the pH test often gives you the same pH reading with vinegar and baking soda as your garden soil. For good soil tests contact your local office of the University of Kentucky USDA Cooperative Extension Service and have them do it. Current cost in Michigan for a soil test done by Michigan State University School of Agriculture is $12.00 per sample and you get much more information ahbout your soil.
While waiting for those results dig in with these simple soil tests to learn more about the soil (clay is a soil type and there are many different types of clay) you have:
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Kentucky CES

Thanks Kimmsr I'll defiantly be doing those test on both my fill dirt and the bad soil that was already here. I do know from digging around in my yard that the old soil has virtually no worms, or any creatures for that matter, once you get below the 1st inch or so of topsoil and I know that the water sits there way too long. I'm working on digging this awful clay out of the shallow end of my raised bed and the hole that IÂve dug will have water sitting in it for DAYS. We had clay at our last home, also in KY, but even it wasn't as bad as this yard. Keep up those post I just love learning more info about the soil because I don't know squat.

strouper2, Hi! I also live in Central KY and share your concern with our very limestone/shale-laden clayey soils. I effectively shoveled out 60 cubic feet by hand the entire week before last to create a berry patch. I replaced most of the clay with horse-created compost. If you'll be replacing alot of your clay and rocks too, I recommend a pickup truck and stopping at Con Robinson Bulk Materials, just to the west of downtown Lexington. I got two cubic yards of compost and mulch and must comment for $16 and an overloaded full pickup bed, it's a steal. The mix is fantastic. Unfortunately, as you know it got freaking cold this week and I been fighting the cold all week to keep my berry plants green.

I took a soil science class at UK back when I was a student and the concepts kimmsr mentioned are coming back to me. We're definitely not an acidic soil in Central KY.. it is pure basic thanks to massive deposits of Ordovician limestone that make up the dome of Central KY (I majored in geological sciences).

Anyhow I mixed probably 85% compost with 15% clay and topped off the bed with 6-8" of mulch. We'll see how this works out. I have two blueberry plants and I believe it will take alot of attention to lowering the PH for these guys. If I can find some powered sulfur here, I intend to work it in their area of the bed. I was busy tonight constructing a compost bin out of scrap wood. I'm not certain if I will try to make that more acidic or not quite yet.

Anyhow please share what you try and your experiences with the very thick clay we live upon.

The one think that I don't understand about mixing stuff with clay is that it seems to just sit there. I mean if you threw it in with a bunch of mulch the mulch would just stick to it not mix with it. Does it just take time for clay to break down & I'm expecting too much too fast? It seems like all the other types of soils will mix together with each other but not clay you mix it all up and you still have a big hunk of clay in the middle. The only way I can think to do it would be set it some place where it would completely dry out and then break it apart with some type of hammer. Then maybe you could get it into small enough hunks that you could spread it throughout another type of soil. And not to complain but that seems like a lot of work to just add CLAY to your soil.

I've heard coarse builder's sand and compost is good for clay, no?

Compost, which is organic matter, is good but to get enough sand mixed into clay would be far more expensive than it is worth, you need to add at least 45 percent sand (Purdue, Ohio state, Michigan State, Wisconsin State, Iowa State, Rutgers, and many more) by volume to make enough difference for that to be worthwhile, and Cornell University says you need at least 70 percent sand by volume.
There are some types of clay that seem to need organic matter mixed in before they will accept more (there is some around Okemos, MI) while most other clays have no problem with simply plunking organic matter on the surface and the soil bacteria will work that in. The easiest way to find out which you have is to pile some organic matter on an area in the fall and try to put a garden fork into the soil the next spring. If the fork slids in easily yo have easy to fix clay, if it will not go in at all you have clay that needs to have organic matter tilled in first.