Every year I amend my soil. Every year I throw chemicals in my soil whether it needs it or not. 10-10-10, lime, and composted manure get slung into my garden to amend the soil, to change it for the better, to improve it. Every year, I have phenomenal crops. But this year, I got the ecological bug and wondered if I was over fertilizing. My crops were successful, but to what damage to the environment?
So, I enlisted the most handsome biology major I know, my hubby, to be my lab partner to help me test the soil. I collected 9 samples from various areas of my garden. We meticulously followed the instructions of the soil testing kit by taking a portion of the soil and adding water to it. After several hours of preparing our soil samples and soil sample with water, it was time to perform the lab. I felt as if I were back in high school testing the pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of each of the 9 areas of the garden. The only difference from High School is that I went to an all girl High School and never had the opportunity to have a dreamy male lab partner. We put the chemical capsules in each of the vials and added our soil water trying to match the color of the water with the chart. Often I disagreed with my lab partner. But I figured, as a biology major, he had a better eye discerning the nuances of colors, and went with his assessment. (I wondered how that would play out in high school?) We concluded from our results that our pH was just fine for the majority of crops so we did not add more lime. All areas were deficient in nitrogen, so we added more composted manure. Potassium and phosphorus were normal so we did add some 10-10-10 but a lot less than in previous years.
The soil is now amended. It is changed for the better, improved. I feel good that I did not add a ton of fertilizer the garden did not need. The experiment was a bit tedious but if you have a good looking lab partner, it makes it all worth it.
