Good article. I especially liked the comment on organic matter, "1 percent is hopeless, 5 percent is magnificent."

Edited to take off my name as a signature....don't need to sign if my name is already displayed.

A nice common sense article helping folks to grow better plants as well as avoiding excess fertilizations. The area has lots of poor draining clay soils; when I was there I found that organic additions made a big difference in plant performance, and reduced puddles. Years ago I dug an area of the garden down over two feet, and put in pure organic materials, including logs. I replaced all of the soil on top, leading to a raised bed. Over the years I lived there the raised bed sunk back down, but even 21 years later the area I dug was clearly a better place for plants than the rest of the yard. No additional organic matter was added over that time.

Renais

Lot's of good info, I'd have liked to see a comment about when to take samples I.E. In the Spring, wait until soil temps reach at least 50 deg at the depth being sampled. Doing so allows for microbial activity to begin and makes for more meaningful results.

Having a soil test done in the spring is not the best time since that is when the soil test labs are the busiest and it can take some time for the soil microbes to convert the nutrients in organic soil amendments into what plants can use.

Experience tells me that a soil sample sent in in early April may mean I do not see the results until close to early May and if I then amend the soil the nutrients may not be available to the plants until July, at best.