Immediately after shaking soil, water and dish soap

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I have the final thumbs-up from Mr. Golden D to get a second, and larger, greenhouse this coming year and with that happening, I am also taking better care of how I garden. From organizing my seedlings and planning out the herb garden to making sure I have the best soil needed all throughout my garden. I am limited on space for an actual garden, so I have to rely on making the best of the little area and using it my fullest advantage.

The first thing I did was research crop and gardening bed rotations weeks ago. And my newest research efforts brought me to learning about loamy soil.

Yes... loamy soil. Now I am sure most avid gardeners and homesteaders know about loamy soil and know how to test for it and how to make the soil better. But me... not so much. If you had asked me a year ago what loamy soil was, I would have stared at you with a blank look.

So let's talk loamy soil.

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What Is Loamy Soil?

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The basic definition can be found on the Spruce website

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What is Loam?
The technical definition: Loam is soil that contains:
less than 52% sand,
28 - 50 % silt, and
7 - 27% clay

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In all the research I have read the last few weeks, this is how the loamy soil percentages work.

• Perfect Oil Loam- 20% clay, 40% Silt, 40% sand
• Silt Clay Loam- 30% clay, 60% silt, 10% sand
• Sandy Loam- 15% clay, 20% silt, 65% sand
• Silt Loam- 15% clay, 65% silt, 20% sand

For more information about what to do with you soil results, see the Gardening Know How website.

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How To Easily Test Sample Your Soil At Home

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Tools needed:

• One clean mason or glass jar with screw-on seal-able lid
• Soil from selected location(s)
• One teaspoon dish soap (to keep the soil from clumping together while it sits for the 24 hours)
• Ruler
• Water

Dig about six inches into selected area of garden and scoop about 1/2-3/4 cup of soil into a glass jar.
Add enough water to fill the jar about three-quarters full; leaving enough room in the jar for shaking and settling. Add one teaspoon of liquid dish soap. Screw lid on and shake the jar for about two minutes. Let it sit for about 24 hours. If you suspect your soil contains heavy clay, the jar should sit for 48 hours.

NOTE I do not suspect high amounts of clay, so I let mine sit for 24 hours.

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My Soil Results

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Four hours after vigorous shaking

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25 hours after shaking

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While it's really hard to see in the picture above, I have the percentages figured out as follows:
15% - clay (should be 20%)
35% - Silt (should be 40%)
50% - Sand (should be 40%)

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So I need to raise up the clay and lower down the silt and sand. I also noticed a lot of debris in the upper half of the jar/water. This is called peaty soil and could mean my soil doesn't have enough nutrients, but according to the USDA chart, I am within the loam criteria.

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Image Source- USDA

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So aside from adding some basic organic nutrients, I believe my garden area is ready to go! I'd say that's good news!

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