Laura Tonkyn has spent 40 years becoming as self-sufficient as possible with her jack-of-all-trades husband, Art, on their eight-acre homestead in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
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I’ve always had one standard when it comes to a successful garden – that it is productive enough to keep me in fresh vegetables around four to five months of the year and keep me in canned vegetables the other seven to eight months. That is about what works in my Zone 4 garden plot. And, hit or miss, I have generally achieved this goal – even though I’m a pretty laid-back gardener.
But I’m feeling a little less laid-back this year, what with our farmers talking about fertilizer shortages, our government mentioning food shortages and, of course, our markets showing that inflation is already baked into the cake.
That is why, after more than 40 years of studiously avoiding anything involving measurements and math, I am presently performing soil tests in my greenhouse and planning to do so in the outdoor garden in the next several weeks. Why is it, that after a lifetime of simply adding a few amendments here and there when my plants look a little off, I’m now turning to science? I must be panicking!
Common do-it-yourself soil tests measure the acidity-alkaline ratio (pH) and the three macro-nutrients (potash, nitrogen and phosphate) in your garden mix. They are available online and in garden centers. You can also take soil samples to professional testing laboratories and get a much more detailed break-down which includes such things as micro-nutrients, soil textures and organic materials.
In any case, my do-it-yourself test shows that my pH is neutral, which is generally a good thing. pH measures how acidic or alkaline a soil sample is, with 7 being neutral. Most vegetables grow well with a pH anywhere from 5.5 to 7.5, so there’s a fair amount of wiggle room. Potatoes are the only plant I grow that calls for a more acidic soil, so I plant them in a trough with a layer of old pine needles along with my usual amendments of compost, a little bonemeal and a dusting of Epsom salt.
My soil test for potash was between Adequate and Sufficient on the scale, so after doing a lot of math, I came up with a figure of a quarter pound potash supplement for each of my 10 foot square greenhouse bins. Ash from the fireplace is a good source of potash, so I’ll weigh a little container of ash and mix it in.
In the garden, which is around 800 square feet, about 20 pounds of ash each season is a good number. My husband sprinkles ash on the garden three or four times in the winter. I’ll have to see if that amount is enough when I test in the garden.
I was surprised to see that nitrogen was Inadequate in my soil, and I’m not sure I believe it. One thing I don’t want is too much nitrogen, which can lead to excessive foliage along with fewer vegetables, plus it takes time to decrease nitrogen. However, when I plant my greenhouse I’ll be adding compost so maybe my soil is simply waiting for its spring refreshment. I will also buy a small amount of alfalfa meal, which is a quick and gentle way to add a little nitrogen without overdoing it. Alfalfa pellets, used as animal feed, can also be mixed into soil for a slow-release form of nitrogen.
My phosphate test showed Adequate to Sufficient phosphate. I add phosphate every year by sprinkling a little bit of bone meal in with every transplant, so I’ll just continue with this routine.
I’m somewhat pleased that I’m finally bothering to do soil tests. Over the years, I’ve mostly just depended on compost, bonemeal and Epsom salt to amend soil.
My compost is mostly chicken manure, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and leaves when I can find them, and good compost contains all three macro-nutrients. I add the bonemeal for strong root development, and Epsom salt is thought to improve seed germination and enhance a plant’s uptake of nutrients.
I guess I’ll know by season’s end if paying a little more attention to my soil’s measurable elements has paid off. Over the years, my go-to method of dealing with discolored leaves or droopy offshoots has been to lop them off. So maybe I’ll see fewer sickly signs this year, and decide that there is something to be said for following “the science.”
Laura Tonkyn has spent 40 years becoming as self-sufficient as possible with her jack-of-all-trades husband, Art, on their eight-acre homestead in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She has written/edited for a number of local/regional papers, including the Rapid City Journal and Faces Magazine. Reach her at laura.tonkyn@gmail.com.
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Laura Tonkyn has spent 40 years becoming as self-sufficient as possible with her jack-of-all-trades husband, Art, on their eight-acre homestead in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
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