If you search these forums you'll find many, many threads that advise to take these home test kit results with a grain of salt. So before you add anything, get a good, real, more reliable test from a lab.

Dan

The home test kits are extremely inaccurate.

Don't panic - if your veggies are growing well, the spoil is OK. Plants are more tolerant then the supplement sellers would like you to think.

Most places in CA have adequate phosphorus. So, where in CA do you live?

Only reason nitrogen should be high is you've added either a fertilizer or *enormous* amounts of compost.

To obtain an accurate soil test, consider one from a professional lab.

Available Nitrogen is dependant on soil temperature and the higher (to an extent) to soil temperature the more active the soil bacteria that supply that Nitrogen, so a soil test done now would show more N than would a soil test done in March. A low soil pH can inhibit the availabilty of K, so before deciding on doing anything other than adding organic matter to that soil get a good, reliable soil test from a reputable lab.

Safaribabe: ditto to those above on a soil test form a reputable lab. If you choose to do a soil test, first contact the lab and find out how to do a proper soil sample, a poor sample will give you poor results as far as your subsequent gardening is concerned. Sampling before you start amending with anything will give you a good baseline from which to judge the effects of your gardening actions in the following year, I.E. soil amendments, irrigation, some organic sprays (I.E. copper). The lab will likely give you recommendations for what the soil lacks and/or has in excess.

On Kimmsrs points: The available N on the soil test will likely be refered to as nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N). There are other forms of N but a basic soil test won't usually include them.
Potassium availability at certain pHs differs wether the soil is an organic soil or a mineral soil, yours is likely a mineral soil from your description. Potassium is most available in mineral soils in a pH range of 6.0 - 7.0. Above and below that, it becomes less available as the pH moves further from that range. pH induced potassium unavailability is not as extreme as the pH induced unavailability of iron, zinc and manganese in mineral soils.

Kudos for looking for answers to your questions before taking actions you may regret in the future in your new garden. If you are a first time gardener, don't worry, we all screw up despite our best intentions and hopefully learn from it. I just did yesterday and have been gardening for 30 years. Hope I never make that mistake again, it almost cost me several young apple trees.

Michael

Super phosphate, triple super phosphate, bone meal, or go to the big-box store and look for a fertilizer that has a high middle number.

You'll have to make a plan to start fixing the soil in a cohesive, unified way. It sounds like you've got the right ideas. You'll want to do something to address the pH problem. If it really is acidic (low pH, less than 6) then you'll need agricultural gypsum to bring in calcium, magnesium and sulfur.

Make sure you're right about the pH. Generally, arid areas have high pH (alkaline, above 7). If you have high pH you'll want to use agricultural sulfur to lower it.

If you can get humic/fulvic acid, that's a quick way to get some organic matter in your soil. It comes in a granulated form, in bags of 25 or 50 pounds. It's dark brown. That will help to condition the soil and make it looser and add certain minerals like iron.

You're on the right track with planting cover crops. I think you want a 'field mix' of clover, field peas, hairy vetch, etc. Some of them have extensive root systems to help bring life deep into the soil.

And keep the soil covered with compost or mulch (straw). It'll take a year or two, but you'll get there.

I've gotten great results using bone meal. Rock phosphate is another slow-release source from natural deposits.

As I said, most of CA has sufficient phosphorous in the soil.

Beyond that, know that the Univ CA Extension Service hasn't done soil tests for many years.

You would be wise to have a professional lab test, and ask what they recommend after they see the results.

When I lived in CA, garden centers sold a "Kellogg's soil test kit" which was a postage-paid box to be filled according to directions, then mailed. I've been gone from CA for 11 years so I don't know if it's still availabale. Ask at a large independent (if any are left) garden center.

If the tests are available, you'd also need to fill out the info sheet telling them the problems you have, also what you want to grow.

Jean
who lived & gardened in Long Beach, CA, for 30-some years

Whether UCNAR does or does not do soil testing is irreleveant since they can give you information about which labs will do that.

When I lived in Sacto (until 2003), we had anywhere from 3-5 labs in town doing soil tests. Shouldn't be an issue, even with this economy, as this is a service always needed in a state with ~$20-some Bns in ag revenue.

Dan

Sorry for not getting back sooner! Thanks for all the info. I am not a new gardner but I am new to this particular area. I am used to gardening on the coast of California and this is inland, Mariposa. So it's much hotter and has alot more freezing days.

I talked to the extension person who is from UC Davis at the Mariposa County office. He confirmed that the area is in fact low in phosphorous. Although, if the kits are not that reliable, it might not be as bad as my test was showing. He said that he has a kit that I can come by and get. So it sounds like unless they actually do a lab test, another kit might not be reliable, either? Even if the extension office is offering it?

Thanks for the recommendations on which cover crop to do. In the past, I have only done fava bean covers and I only have so much time to research everything before fall.

The only thing that seems weak is our corn. It seemed to get really stunted and the cobs low down. However, driving through the Central valley this weekend, I was looking at the fields of corn. If you look at a whole field, it seems quite tall but if you look at a stalk individually, they seem actually not too different from my own. But maybe that's just the stalks on the edges. Corn is one thing I have not grown before.

Our cucumbers were awesome... wet, sweet and crunchy. That is until the rabbits decimated the plants. So now we have, hopefully!, more rabbit barriers. We have 1" wire along the bottom and then laid out in front of the fence. We did not dig down as our soil is a hard clay and so hard that in parts of it, you have to use a pick ax and a whole lot of muscle to break ground. I am hoping that the rabbits will see that trying to burrow through such hard clay is a waste of energy.

We actually still live on the coast and go to the property on weekends, holidays, etc. So the garden is on a drip and we won't know until next weekend if the rabbits are out.

Does anyone know of any labs in the Merced/Los Banos area? Or can you mail samples to labs? Is there a risk of that?

Or can you mail samples to labs? Is there a risk of that?

That's how it is done. If he's from UCD he must be good. ;o) Many farmers grow their pig corn on the edge so folk don't drive up and pick, so don't use that as an indicator.

All my best to you and the communities out there with the drought and economy and fallout from Big Ag ops. I'll see it for myself in ~ 3 weeks as I come back to backpack Yosemite again, and then this fall...

Dan

We are on a well but we are new to this property. We don't have a holding tank and have not yet set up a rainwater collection system. But I was recently reading about what is happening in the Central valley due to protection of some tiny fish (2"). It's pretty deplorable what they are allowing to happen. I am ALL for environmentalism but this is very disturbing. Add to this the problems now with the dairy industry (even though I abhor factory farmed animals), I am just seeing these issues as things that will further bring down California.

Has anyone made their farm/garden a business? Is there a forum for this?

But I was recently reading about what is happening in the Central valley due to protection of some tiny fish (2"). It's pretty deplorable what they are allowing to happen

Exactly - how could they allow these fish to die and the salmon runs to collapse and the Delta to fall just to pipe water around the state for lawns?

But the problem no one talks about there is that there are too many people for the ecosystem to support - the ecosystems are starting to collapse and when they do, that will be deplorable for many reasons, including the wrecking of the economy as something could have been done but wasn't.

Dan