Hi Guys;

some of us SF types view gardening as an essential long term survival skill. I am definitely one of those types. And I also happen to be one of those who whole-heartedly believes that gardening is a skill/art that requires some practice to be really successful. There is a LOT of stuff to be learned prior to banking your family's survival on the outcome of a garden plot.

For what its worth I've been gardening for decades. I consider myself to be skilled, and more than a few others come to me for gardening advice. Even with all this experience and skill I was recently shocked. I purchased a 72 acre plot about a year and a half ago, and had considered putting in food plots. I had three very different food plot areas in mind. Being an experienced gardener I knew that each plot would have it's own challenges and advantages and thought I was fairly well prepared to deal with these issues. One plot tends to be wet, so this severely limits potential crops. No apple trees for example, but ideal for Swamp Oaks. Another plot is somewhat rocky but well sheltered. I would have considerable labor involved in clearing this plot but thought it's isolation would make a great food plot.

I took soil samples from three different plots, dried them thoroughly, and then sent these samples to my local cooperative extension for a full soil analysis. Cost was $16 per sample. I figured the $48 spent on sampling and testing would be repaid by reduced costs in fertilizer, etc.

The results were truly suprising. The rocky plot is extremely acid. If I want to grow typical food plot crops in here I need to drop 6 TONS of lime per acre. Whoa. That's a lot of money, time and labor. As a matter of fact, its purely not worthwhile. On the other hand I had considered a blueberry patch, and thought I'd need to acidify soils. The foodplot is out, and the blueberries are going in. Other areas, even though they are only a mere 100 yards away, are completely different. Based on soil tests I have completely revised my planting plans.

The soils tests showed me a few things:

1) had I tried to plant in the acid soils without testing, I would have gone through manys days of labor and ultimately ended up frustrated after several years of poor crops. testing has helped avert failure.

2) I have saved manys hundreds of dollars. why acidify this portion of land when that portion over there is good to go? Why drop hundreds of dollars in Nitrogen on areas that are already nitrogen rich.

3) Knowledge is power. Knowing my soils now means I have a serious head start in successfully converting idle land to productive lands if needs be. I know what plants should go where in order to ensure the greatest potential for survival and decent crops.

I was quite pleased with the results. The testing was done through DairyOne, and is relatively complete. Based on info I provided, they submitted a detailed soil management plan for the next three years. How much lime, N,P,K to apply, where to apply it, when to apply it , and in what amounts for the next three years. Well worth $16 in my opinion.

Fro