HelpfulGardener.com

I came across this site and I thought id share my discovery!

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

Great resource! THANK YOU!!!

I must be having a case of the stupids.

I went to this website this afternoon and tried to get the info. All I found were parameters that *could* perhaps be provided.

I gave my address but didn't get anywhere, so I tried another tab and did a zip-code search.

I finally got the "wonderful news" that I lived in an area with Soil Group AbC (a three-letter group with first and third letters capitalized). There was a general analysis of this soil group, dealing with its geological history and overall characteristics, but nothing in the way of specific nutrients.

OTOH, I've just finished my first solid week at a new job (hired by former client) and am up at 6:00 a.m. running running running get home around 7:00 or so *and* I re-commenced physical therapy this week, too...

Which is why I think I may have had a "case of the stupids."

Any suggestions on using this possibly wonderful resource? thx.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

cynthia_h wrote:Any suggestions on using this possibly wonderful resource? thx.

how about a long cheezy Tutorial?

Ok when you first click the link, the WSS website will appear, then you want to click the green “start WSSâ€

I wouldn't lean too heavily on this tool; it's great for what it is, but site specifics are just that, caused by whatever has gone on on that specific property, and you can't see that from space or generalizing from an average of random sampling. Get your own test to be sure of what you are doing...

HG