In article ,
Phisherman wrote:

On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 15:58:20 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

We bought a house with a garden. Irrigation system in, but I will be making
some changes.

The soil locally is blow sand from red sandstone. A friend of mine gave me
a big tiller for doing some work to help him clean up after a fire. I got
it all cleaned up and put new gas in it, and it fired right up. So, I took
it on a couple of rows of the garden.

The soil is light and fluffy and not rocky as the adjoining soil.
Apparently the previous owners had put a lot of organic material in there.
It's really nice looking soil.

Is there some simple tests that I can do to see what's sand and what isn't?
Say, put some in a bucket and see how much floats vs. how much sinks?

Should I go buy some garden soil (I already have five big bags) and till
that in, too? Should I till in some general fertilizer for the whole
garden?

What would be some good things to do now that I have a blank palette, and
don't have to redo what someone else has done?

Steve


You're best bet is to start with a complete soil test from your local
cooperative extention. Sand is not particularly useful, although
some plants prefer it. Put a handful of soil in a glass mason jar,
fill with water, shake, allow to settle. You should see separating
layers (Did this in 10th grade earth-science class).
Clear off any plant material from surface of soil. Take a 1 foot deep
soil sample (leaves a cylindrical hole 1 foot deep). Shake with water in
a clear container.
The sand will settle out in about 5 min. or less, the silt in about 45
min., and the clay in 24 hours. The thickness of each band over the
thickness to the total deposit is percentage of composition. For
example, if the the total sediment is 3" thick and the bottom layer
(sand) is 1 3/16" thick (19/16 divided by 48/16 = 39.56% sand). Good
garden soil is 30 % - 40% sand, 30 % - 40% silt, 20 % - 30% clay.
From your soil
test, you will know what kinds of fertilizers and how much to add and
how to adjust the pH. Or, you might consider plants suited for your
soil and conditions. I like to till in last fall's leaves, old
sawdust, and compost as that's what's available here and free. Some
plants, like peppers, may actually decrease yields with too much
nitrogen.
--

Billy

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