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Christine’s Soil Experiment Result

So I’ve learnt two things doing this “Great Soil Expirement”. The first thing is that I think I have good soil but have no idea how to actually read the result and the second is that I have a lot to learn about photographing glass containers that reflect light. Lots of reading up on the internet and the best I can do is a photograph of a jar of dirt and water reflecting me in my pyjamas taking a photograph of it!

[one_half]Soil Test Result[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Soil Test Result[/one_half_last]

The result of my Soil Test: Hanni from Sweet Bean Gardening says that the sand will sink to the bottom, the silt stays in the middle and the clay rises to the top. Looks like I have a fair amount of sand and silt and not too much clay.

According to Wikipedia: Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration (about 40-40-20% concentration respectively). Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils. Loams are gritty, moist, and retain water easily.

Am I correct in assuming I have pretty good soil?

Visit Sweet Bean Gardening to see other results “Dirt Cheap: Free Soil Composition Test“ at The Great Soil Experiment Meme.

 

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Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

My Great Soil Experiment

[one_half]Soil Test 1[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Soil test 2[/one_half_last]

I have completed my free Soil Composition Test.  I took a sample from the clay soil of my front garden today, where the roses and the lavender grow and also from the veggie patch which I have been rejuvenating with compost, etc., every season. They both look so very similar. Let’s see what happens once they settle. This should be interesting! I am looking forward to all the results!!

The soil in Philadelphia – up the West Coast of Cape Town,  seems to be one of clay. It is where wheat, oats and canola is grown, and a new crop that the farmers grow for a summer harvest is grapes. Our village is surrounded by these fields.

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Christine's garden Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Join the Great Soil Experiment

Join the Big Soil Test Experiment!Last week Hanni at Sweet Bean Gardening posted an article entitled “Dirt Cheap: Free Soil Composition Test“, which is a super-easy and free way to find out the secrets of your soil. We suggested she start a meme – i.e. anyone who is interested can take part by doing the soil composition test and then posting the results on their blog. Then in a couple of days, Hanni will do a post where we can all add the links to our Soil Composition Test Results. This could be very interesting to see the different types of soil we all garden in and to see photographs of what the different soil types look like. Anyone is welcome to join – and it should prove very interesting to see all the different types of soil.

My Jar of SoilSo here are the easy instructions:
1. Mix two parts of water to one part soil in a jar. (I used an empty Gundelsheim gherkin glass jar and added 2 measure-fulls of water to 1 measure of freshly dug dirt)
2. Add a little salt (I added 1/2 teaspoon)
3. Shake it up
4. Let it rest for a few days
5. Take a photograph and add it as a post on your blog

Then on Friday or Saturday head over to Hanni’s blog at http://sweetbeangardening.blogspot.com/ (or you can check back here on Friday or Saturday and I will provide a link to the Results Posts on Hanni’s blog where you can add your link).

The actual “soil test” prep is really quick and easy to do. It took me all of about three minutes. (The photo is of my freshly prepared “Soil Test”!

Happy Gardening and lets compare soil in a couple of days!

xxx