SC - Fw: Building Healthy Soil- OOp, OT

[Alderton, Philippa]

I'm forwarding this along for those of you who are planning on growing a
garden this year. This is an email newsletter put out by the Burpee catalog
people, and I find it has a great deal of good advice.


Phlip

Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.

phlip at morganco.net

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio

"All things are poisons.  It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a
poison and a remedy." -Paracelsus

"Oats -- a grain which in England sustains the horses, and in
Scotland, the men." -- Johnson

"It was pleasant to me to find that 'oats,' the 'food of horses,' were
so much used as the food of the people in Johnson's own town." --
Boswell

"And where will you find such horses, and such men?" -- Anonymous



>BURPEE GARDEN NEWS
>
>=======================
>March 7, 2000
>
>The Burpee Garden News is presented by your friends at Burpee and the
>National Gardening Association. Every two weeks, you will receive gardening
>news, tips, and inspiration from our panel of experts.
>
>=======================
>Building Healthy Soil
>
>Soil preparation is one of the most important steps in growing any type of
>plant -- vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs. Your plants will only be as
>healthy as the soil in which they grow. Here are some important points to
>keep in mind as you prepare your soil for planting.
>
>* Have your soil tested every couple of years. Cooperative Extension
>Service offices often have a soil testing lab, or they can help you locate
>one. Home test kits are available as well, but if this is your first
>garden, it's a good idea to have an expert perform the test and make
>recommendations for the particular type of crop you'll be growing. A test
>will tell you the levels of key nutrients in the soil, and what fertilizers
>or amendments you need to add.
>
>A soil test will also tell you your soil's pH, which is simply the degree
>of acidity or alkalinity in a range from 0 to 14. When a soil is too acid
>(low pH) or too alkaline (high pH), certain nutrients are bound up and
>unavailable to your plants. The test will also give recommendations for the
>addition of lime or sulfur to bring the soil into the proper growing range
>for the plants you'll be growing. Lime "sweetens" or neutralizes the soil's
>pH, and sulfur makes it more acid.
>
>* As soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, till or spade your
>garden (with a shovel, heavy spading fork, or rotary tiller) to a depth of
>eight to 10 inches. If the soil is soggy from melting snow or spring rains,
>wait until it's dry enough to work. To test your soil, squeeze a handful of
>it into a ball. If you can break the ball easily by poking it with your
>index finger, your soil is dry enough to be worked. When you've thoroughly
>worked the soil, it should be loose, friable and free of clumps.
>
>* If you're breaking up lawn or areas that have been in sod, make sure that
>the clumps of grass are turned over so that the roots are facing the sun.
>This will help prevent the unwanted grass from making a reappearance in the
>garden.
>
>* The best method for enhancing any type of garden soil is to incorporate
>organic matter: old leaves, hay, grass clippings, compost, biodegradable
>kitchen scraps or even harvested pea and peanut vines. Organic matter
>serves as a glue, holding sandy soil particles together. In clay soils, it
>wedges in between soil particles, loosening or lightening the soil,
>allowing water and air to reach plant roots.
>
>Question of the Week
>==================
>Q. How can I tell if my soil is mostly clay or sand?
>
>A. Pick up a handful of moist soil. If you can form it into a smooth ball,
>and it stays in that shape without crumbling, it's probably clay. Sandy
>soil doesn't hold together. Another sign of clay soil is when puddles form
>on the surface after watering and the water is very slow to percolate
>through the soil. Water moves rather quickly through sandy soil. The ideal
>soil is loam -- a mixture of clay and sand.
>
>
>================================================
>Visit the Burpee website for your latest regional gardening news:
>http://www.burpee.com
>
>We are unable to answer any gardening questions sent
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>visit the Burpee Question & Answer web site at:
>http://www.burpee.com/questions
>
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>inquiries sent to this email address. If you have a question
>about your Burpee catalog, order, or products, please contact
>Burpee Customer Service at:
>Telephone: (800) 333-5808
>Email: burpeecs at surfnetwork.net.
>=========================