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21 Acres Soil Assessment

The 21 Acres Soil Assessment Team, consisting of Martin Herrin, Melody Hearten-Johnson, and Aileen Ponio, provides soil tests for pH, phosphorus, potassium, nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, humus, and nematodes. They offer recommendations for improving soil quality and provide results for sample sites. With a commitment to sustainable farming practices, 21 Acres aims to make local, sustainable-grown food a cornerstone of healthy lifestyles and communities.

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21 Acres Soil Assessment

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  1. 21 Acres Soil Assessment Team: Martin Herrin, Melody Hearten-Johnson, and Aileen Ponio Water and Sustainability BIS 392

  2. Location: 21 Acres • 21 Acres includes a bio-diverse farmstead with trails for physical activity, interpretive educational signage, and cultivated farm plots used to demonstrate sustainable and organic farming practices. • 21 Acres is committed to making local, sustainable-grown food a cornerstone of healthy lifestyles and communities.

  3. Soil Tests • Texture • PH • Phosphorus • Potassium • Nitrate • Ammonia Nitrogen • Humus • Nematodes

  4. Sample Sites FieldSample Site 1 A B C • A • B • C 1 • A • B • C 3 1 2

  5. Textural Analyses

  6. Role • The relative acidity or alkalinity of soil is indicated by its pH. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Any pH reading below 7 is acidic and any pH above 7 is alkaline. A pH of 7 indicates a neutral soil. The pH is important because it influences the availability of essential nutrients. • Recommendations • Potatoes grow best in pH • conditions from 4.8-6.5, • Strawberries in 5.0-6.0, and • carrots and lima beans prefer soil • from 5.5-6.5 pH. pH • Results - Field 1: Site A - pH = 5.0 - 5.2 Site B - pH = 5.2 Site C- pH = 5.1- Field 2:Site A - pH = 5.8 - 6.2 Site B - pH = 6.2 - 6.4 Site C- pH = 6.0 - 6.2- Field 3: Site A - pH = 6.0 Site B - pH = 5.8 - 6.2 Site C - pH = 6.0

  7. Role • Phosphorus in soil is essential for strong roots. It also helps protect plants against disease and poor weather conditions allowing them to grow faster. • Recommendation Cover cropping either green manure or clover. Adding bone meal or phosphate rock will increase phosphate levels. Bat guano is also good. Phosphorus • Results • Field 1Site A - 25 lb/aSite B - 75 lb/aSite C - 75 lb/a • Field 2Site A - 25 lb/aSite B - 25-50 lb/aSite C - 75 lb/a • Field 3Site A - 75 lb/aSite B - 75 lb/aSite C - 25 lb/a Phosphorus is recorded in pounds per acre (lb/a)

  8. Role Potassium is essential for optimum growth. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and beets thrive in high levels of potassium. Potassium is also needed for sugar formation in fruits and vegetables, so more sufficient levels of potassium equals better tasting fruits and vegetables. • Recommendation Cover crop or use compost to increase potassium in the soil. Add organic fertilizers such as kelp meal, greensand, or sulfate of potash. Potassium • Results • Field 1Site A - 160 lb/aSite B - 180 lb/aSite C - 150 lb/a • Field 2Site A - <100 lb/aSite B - <120 lb/aSite C - <100 lb/a • Field 3Site A -110 lb/aSite B -130 lb/aSite C -120 lb/a Potassium is recorded in pounds per acre (lb/a)

  9. Role • Nitrogen is essential to all crops success. • Recommendation • Fertilizers… No Way! • Sod, alfalfa grasses…Oh Yay! Sod offers the soil the chance to decompose organic matter as opposed to using N fertilizers made from fossil fuels. Nitrate Nitrogen • Results • Field 1: Site A: 40 pounds per acre Site B: 40 pounds per acre Site C: 40 pounds per acre • Field 2: Site A: 20 pounds per acre Site B: 40 pounds per acre Site C: 20 pounds per acre • Field 3: Site A: 40 pounds per acre Site B: 40 pounds per acre Site C: 20 pounds per acre

  10. Presence of Nitrate Nitrogen • Nitrogen is essential the success of any crop. • We observed Rhizobium bacteria() on the crop roots at 21 Acres.

  11. Nematodes • We discovered Nematodes in the soil at 21 Acres! • Nematodes are an excellent source of plant-available Nitrogen production in the soil.

  12. Role • Ammonia is another form of nitrogen. • In forest soils ammonia is the most abundant form of nitrogen. If there is an adequate rate of nitrogen transformation, the humus layers of a forest soil will produce excessive concentrations of ammonia nitrogen. • Recommendation • Cover cropping and Green manure crops. Ammonia Nitrate • Results • Field 1 Site A: Very Low Site B: Very Low Site C: Very Low • Field 2 Site A: Very Low Site B: Very Low Site C: Very Low • Field 3 Site A: Very Low Site B: Very Low Site C: Very Low

  13. Role • Humus consists of the complex remains of fresh plant and animal residue after extensive chemical and biological breakdown. It accounts for 60-70% of the total organic carbon in soils. It can modify the physical properties of soil, strongly affecting its chemical and biological properties. • Mineralization process that converts raw organic matter to the relativity stable substance that is humus feeds the soil population of micro-organisms and other creatures, helping maintain high levels of soil life. • Recommendation • Cover cropping, Green manure crop. Humus • Results • Field 1 Site A: 1 Site B: 1 Site C: 2 • Field 2 Site A: 1 Site B: 1 Site C: 1 • Field 3 Site A: 1 Site B: 2 Site C: 2 Scale: 1-low, 2-Medium, 3-High (Agricultural soils) 2-Low, 3-Medium, 4, high (Garden greenhouse soils) 3-Low, 4-Medium, 5-High (Organic soils)

  14. THANK YOU!Eat some dirt and Hug a tree, Team Dirty

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