What does a soil test tell you about the soils pH and nutrient levels?

How much organic matter is in the soils?

How well do these soils drain?

How well do these soils retain moisture?

What do these soils smell like?

What kind of life is in these soils?

In addition to a good soil test for pH and major nutrient levels perhaps these simple soil tests may be of some help.

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. For example, a good
loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 1)
Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to
make a 4 inch level 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 your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

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.

Haven’t done the jar test but will do it soon. 1)Have never done a soil test either but I’ve seen it recommended so much on here that I probably should. Logan labs still the recommended place?

2) Drainage for property 1 is decent.

drainage for property 2 is slow. In fact my biggest issue is that I have a lot of runoff so I can’t water continuously to get down 1 inch. I did a bit of an experiment last year and added alfalfa a couple times to one side of the lawn, and that side definitely looks better than the other. I’m planning to add organic material monthly this year to feed the soil and hopefully improve it. But what type of organic matter and at what rate is what I need help with.



3) Tilth is so so. Both properties are more clay-like but not too bad. Soil definitely clumps together but depending on how much water is in it they won’t break apart. Like if we have a hard rain..

4)there’s no bad smell. Def not that great earthy smell either. It’s better at property 1.

5) Property 1 has less earthworms...not sure why because I’ve been much better at feeding the soil there.
Surprisingly there is many an earthworm at property 2! I know this because I didn’t even need to use a shovel to find plenty. I’ve been systematically hand pulling all the black medic and they come out of pretty much every spot I disturb. This is the first time I’ve seen so many

What type of organic material to add to any soil depends on what is fairly readily available. There really is no bad type of organic material. Recycling the grass clippings, mulch mowing, is always a good start. Shredded leaves are a good addition, but what ever you can get relatively easily and cheaply would be good.

The odor (smell) of soil is a reflection of how active the Soil Food Web is. A good active SFW will produce a pleasant, earthy, smell. To have a good active SFW requires a level of organic matter in soil that will support them, something around 5 percent although I do prefer something close to 6 to 8 percent.

Drainage in clay soil types is very dependent on the amount of organic matter in soil because that organic matter separates the clay soil particles so water can flow more easily. Tilth is also improved with adequate amounts of organic matter.

Now, I have referenced organic material and organic matter here which many people lump together as the same thing although they are not. Organic material is what you add to soil while organic matter is the residual organic material in the soil. You need to add to soil more organic material than the Soil Food Web is going to digest each year to stay ahead of them.