Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Soil Samplin'

Even though this is the Winter that just won't go away, it's time to start getting ready for Spring planting! Before we start planting, we apply different types of commercial fertilizers, chicken litter, lime, etc. to our fields. How do we know how much of what to put where? That's where soil samples come into play!
Every three years, we drive around every field we farm and take samples. We take a few samples from each field. It depends on how big the field is as to how many we take.

Each sample is dumped into a bucked and stirred around with a spoon. We do this for each field. You do not mix fields together.
It's a lot easier if you have awesome help.
After the dirt is mixed up in the bucket, it is scooped into one of these handy dandy bags. Sometimes it's a box. Label it with your info, farm #, and name of field. We have awesome field names like "home place," "2 acres in the woods," "Shorty's," and "cannon ball field." Repeat this process a bazillion more times, stick them all in boxes, and mail them to your local soil lab.  They send you back all the information you ever wanted about the soil. What it needs, what is has too much of, and what type of soil it is. These services aren't just for large farmers either. If you can't grow anything in your garden or your roses keep dying, consider taking a soil sample!


  1. I really need to do this for my itty bitty garden. That way it would take the guesswork out of trying to figure what it needs.

  2. wow.... I did not know they had bags now... it has been a while since we tested the hay field....


    Managed IT Services

  4. Thanks for stopping by my blog! We are going to be a ways away from planing here in Iowa. Although, wile out in the pasture today we did notice a few green blades of grass. Hopefully, the warm up continues and the planters can get in the field before we know it!