In today’s post I am taking the opportunity to learning about measurements. It seems reasonable to me to get a better understanding of the current state of the soil around me. I would want to know the baseline or understand if I can identify a baseline if I am going to be taking actions to improve it. So, I took some time to learn a bit more. Fortunately, there is a lot of information out there.
According to this video, you don’t have to send soil to a lab to tell you roughly the basic composition of the soil. It focuses on how to measure the composition of soil at home.. Ideal soil should contain a mix of sand, clay, organic material, and silt, with a recommended ratio of approximately 30% sand, 40% clay, and the remainder being organic matter (about 20%) and silt. A few inches of soil and some water and a jar make for a test I can do straight away. So I will try it out and update the comments with results.
While this video was done in Michigan, my understanding the basic soil composition will be similar in the UK. There will be differences in the locations but I felt this was good to know as a starting point and a good thing to try. It was pleasing to see more simple ways to get started with measuring the soil.
Here is a bit more specifics about the process.
After leaving the soil-water mixture in the jar undisturbed for about 12 to 24 hours, the different components of the soil will settle into distinct layers according to their particle sizes. Here’s what you can expect to see and how to interpret it:
- Settling Layers:
- Sand: Being the heaviest and largest particles, sand settles at the bottom of the jar first.
- Silt: Above the sand layer, silt will settle.
- Clay: On top of the silt, the clay layer forms.
- Organic Matter: Any organic material, such as decomposed plant matter, may float at the top of the water or settle very slowly.
- Water Clarity:
- The water above the settled layers might still appear cloudy, but it will be more translucent than when you first mixed the soil in it. The cloudiness is due to the very fine particles that are still suspended in the water.
- Measurement:
- After the layers have settled, use a ruler to measure the thickness of each layer. Measure from the bottom of the jar to the top of each layer.
- Calculate the percentage of each soil component (sand, silt, clay) by dividing the thickness of each layer by the total thickness of all layers. This will give you an idea of your soil’s texture and composition.
- Analysis:
- Based on the proportions of sand, silt, and clay, you can determine the type of soil you have (e.g., sandy, loamy, clayey) and understand its properties. Loamy is typically what one wants.
- This information helps in deciding what amendments or adjustments might be needed for optimal plant growth. For example, a soil high in clay might require more organic matter to improve drainage and aeration.
So how about testing for nutrients? I found another popular video. This video has information about testing for pH. It was a good start and point to be a more in depth post with all the details and products to use to test with https://www.epicgardening.com/best-soil-test-kit/.
I am planning on starting a patch of farming with different types of foods we are thinking of doing it for livestock mainly foods that the pigs or sheep could eat. It seems knowing the pH of the soil we have for something like squash will be helpful to know.
Okay I could not wait so I ordered this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonkir-Soil-Tester-Moisture-Outdoor/dp/B07BR52P26/. Will let you know how it goes later?
Researching the soil this way has been interesting. The idea with measuring is good but what does this tell me about the carbon sequestration benefits. Do I know anything about the carbon in the soil through these measurements?
This question took me to this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP-Fy6NFTy4 that explains how they are measuring soil carbon in Australia.
Two methods were listed:
Walkley-Black Method (WB) Method
Leco Combustion Method (more modern one)
These tests require labs for testing and that is definitely something to consider. Bigger picture though I am looking to get more realtime measurements and deltas of any activity or action. This idea may actually be a preposterous thing to consider but this is the topic I am curious most about.
The idea of the DIY approach of weight the soil and burning off what is organic matter and weighing again could be interesting. Burning the organic matter in this case would also just end up releasing the carbon into the air if my understanding is correct. I will have to think about it some more.
Let me just start by doing some inspections of the soil and look at the different mixes and start to see differences throughout the areas I have access to. I have a couple of testing techniques to try out and a little bit of new kit which is always nice. 🙂