From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Bob F wrote:   
   ...   
   > I got the results of my first soil test last week. It was low on   
   > Nitrogen, potassium, and sulfur, and at the top of the scale at 15%   
   > organic matter. They say 5% is as high as you need. I guess I've been   
   > overdoing the compost. Also very high on phosphate, which may be due to   
   > the compost too. I also needed lime to raise the ph, which was at 6.1.   
      
     what is your soil structure like?  sandy?  loam?  clay content?   
   that should have also been a part of a soil test.   
      
     will you be changing your garden beds to reduce the organic   
   matter level or stop adding compost for a few seasons and then   
   retest?   
      
     around here i would be moving garden soil around because i   
   have so many gardens that can use an organic matter boost and i   
   have so little of it to spare.  at the end of each garden season   
   i bury almost all garden debris and that does help but it is   
   never enough.  i call it low-till gardening because i'm rarely   
   digging more than 5%-10% of a garden for the entire season.   
      
      
   > I am glad I did the test. We get 5 free tests (for life) from the   
   > conservation district. After that, it is currently $25.   
      
     that's nice, i've never done anything other than eyeball things   
   here and i am curious about what the pH is in a few gardens, but i   
   never get around to testing it because for the most part the   
   gardens are doing ok with what i'm amending.   
      
     our well water does contain some calcium and iron and i've had   
   to water a lot this year so i know that is going to change the   
   pH a little, but the rains are slightly acidic so when we get   
   more rains i hope it balances out.   
      
     the actual fertilizer amendment i use for spot feeding does   
   have eggshells in there along with whatever else the food scraps   
   bring for trace nutrients, i'm not too worried about them.  i   
   use the results of my heaviest feeding plants (the tomatoes) to   
   guage how good it is and they are 4ft tall already and have nice   
   green leaves.   
      
     time to get back out there and get a few things done before   
   it gets too hot again.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)