MsFord209
Full Member
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2013 6:40 pm
Location: Central illinois

Trying to gauge soil health without paying for soil test

Hi all. I'm trying to figure on my own if my soil is healthy enuff to start veggie garden without doing too much more than adding some compost & maybe some top soil. A little background; this is my first spring in the house so I really don't know what working with & I'm an amateur, at best. The house was vacant for four years prior to my moving in. The good part about that is I have a about half the backyard naturally composting under years worth of fallen leaves & twigs & things. I was clearing some earlier this week & I found moist dark soil that smelled earthy & was crumbly & light. Some twigs were totally black & soft, breaking down beautifully. I put all the stuff back so as not to dry out the soil. I'm not ready to plant.(still getting frost) I'm thinking my soil is pretty healthy. It's rained on & off all day for the last four days so I haven't been n the yard. A few days ago I was pulling dandelion roots the size of large carrots. They actually looked like parsnips. I had to get the shovel & dig some out. There's also things blossoming in the front & back yards. I've planted nothing & paid virtually no attention to the yard, as I moved n late autumn. So there's many hasta, lots of leafy things, two bunches with five flowers each of a beautiful red with leaves like silk or satin. They open wide with sun, almost inside out. Regularly when cloudy & close tightly every night. Yellow & black on inside. Then there's leafy based plant with some really tall dried stems. Like 3ft. My neighbor said they grew nice purple flowers last year. I'm totally ignorant, I can recognize some Lillies, roses, & orchid. And dandelion! That's it. But is all this growth with no help from me an indication of soil health? Also, a friend of mine says he can bring me a truckload of "regular dirt" for my gardens. I'm a bit skeptical of just mixing it n with my "good" soil. Should I have this tested? What should it look like? He's a contractor with many connections. I forgot what kind of company he gets it from. Sometimes he's paid to get rid of the stuff after excavations & things of that nature but no telling what's n it.??? P.s. I want my gardens 100% organic

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Sound like you've got really nice rich soil. I have never had my soil tested, except for the areas I am trying to grow native wildflowers, I do have a pH meter, because lots of those are very sensitive to soil pH. But otherwise for my regular veggie and flower beds, I just keep adding compost and mulch and everything does great, without ever being tested.

I would definitely NOT accept the "regular dirt" from a construction site! What you have sounds way better than that.

MsFord209
Full Member
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2013 6:40 pm
Location: Central illinois

Thanks a lot rainbow.



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