Fossils in the garden.
So we frequently find marine fossils of snails and sea urchins on our land. What does it say about our nowadays soil if there was ocean or lake floor aeons ago? Lime? Clay? Acidic? Alcaline? Is there an answer to this question? The photo above shows the fossil findings so far.
In my Permaculture facebook group I received hints, that fossil findings point into the alkaline direction. I'm curious what you guys think about this.
These are the layers of earth these fossils where found:
That certainly looks like Limestone. So Alkaline. You can test by placing some rock into a glass (about a half cup) of vinegar. Does your rock start to fizz? If yes it's Limestone. The calcium carbonate reacts with the acid in the vinegar and begins to break down into Carbon Dioxide. Possibly Citrus, Apple and various Stonefruit (Plum, Nectarine, etc) do well in Alkaline soils.
@piratefoodco Thank you so much for this brilliant answer. All the fruit trees you mention are part of our plan! Don't know if I will manage to keep you updated (in 2-7 years) if they did well or not ;)
Have you done the simple jar soil test that shows the general proportions of clay, sand and silt/organic matter in the soil? Looking at that last photo, I think you have a somewhat sandy, alkaline soil.
Also, have you dug holes in different locations? Sometimes soils vary just in a matter of meters.
Hey @bobydimitrov. No I dind't. The land was worked heavily in the past, as they built a moto_X track right through it and messing up the soil layers in a way, that you would get very different results from different yar tests. So thats why I am trying to figure it out by archeology...
Looks like linestone to me, so it would be pretty alkaline
Ok, I guess limestone it is...
Fossils in your backyard, neat.
Haha. And full of it!