I was looking for a soil conservation service for my county and Ifound this awesome web soil survey.
[url]https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm[/url]
This site gives quiet a few important facts about the soil properties, qualities, limitations and suitability’s for the area you choose.
You can type in your address and it will give an aerial map for you to exactly pin point the area you wish to get the soil survey…(I was able to pin point my property) It also gives you the date when the live aerial picture was taken, as well as the date of when the data was recorded.
With the area of interest pin pointed I was then able to get information on the percent of organic matter ,clay, silt, CEC, & calcium of my soil. It will also give you info on frost, drainage, texture, ph of yur soil and what irrigation or plants are right for your soil.
I wasn't able to get some information (wasnt available at that the time), but I got enough to help me build a nice plan on restoring & building a more diverse soil biology for my garden plants.
What was so great about this, is that its free and I didn't have to go out and pay for a soil analysis. Yet I still got a nice detailed survey on the soil I'm working with!!!
I think this is a great advantage for organic gardeners trying to understand, on how they can improve or maintain the micro-organisms structure and fertility of ther soil. All though a soil analysis from your own garden will be more reliable, this survey is a good start or you can compare some of your soil qualities (from a soil analysis) with what the survey throws at you!!
Hope this helps you as much as it did me
