At the risk of inciting rampant debate and ammendment politics, I would be interested to know your all's take on this. I've used manure and compost extensively in the past, but have little experience on enzymes, bio minerals and such. A nursery friend of mine raves about a product from Texas called Biozome. Any other recommendations for average mountain soil that could use some extra oomph?
My opionion?? Your doing good with the compost/manure. It will take time, but keep it up, and your soil will thank you. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Paul Bradway
I agree. You can try all the stuff out there you want but good old manure is still your best bet. What are you trying to grow?
Your going to get everything you need from what your doing. Compost has a lot of activity going on in it. To get more minerals, plant something that roots deeply and it will provide the minerals you need when you send it to the compost pile. Take care of your land and it will take care of you. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Argee [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
<font color="blue"> What are you trying to grow? </font color>
A bit of everthing. Our focus right now is on clearing and preparing a three acre area for grapes, but the soil issue affects all. We have planted about thirty fruit trees together with six varieties of raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, filberts and an almond tree. We will plant some pecan trees this spring along with a couple hundred asparagus crowns. Also put in several pounds of ginseng seed and some three year roots. Our main crop - Wasabi - is getting established in our spring branch, but it is not soil grown, but rather is a slow growing water and cold loving crop.
It seems from the answers that I inadvertantly misled. My previous experience with compost and manure was not on this property. This acreage ( we have only owned it for a couple of years) is mainly second growth mountain forest. Lots of leaf mold, but relatively acidic average soil. I will be adding compost and manure this year as well as planting a cover crop (probably legumes), but am seeking all ways to improve all existing soil, including worms, ammendments, etc.
So far I have only done "homeowner" type soil tests. Plan to take some samples down to the county office this spring. We are basically dealing with well drained sandy loam, with some clay in certain areas. Surprisingly not too rocky.
Plan to take some samples down to the county office this spring.
That's your best bet. Once you have that they will usually work out a program to get your ground in shape for what you want to do with it. I could give you a number of suggestions but they may all be wrong depending on the soil analysis and what you are going to grow.
Thanks for your responses and advice. I will take samples down to county extension agents soon, as suggested and let you allknow what I find out.
Can the soil tests be done anytime? Is spring reccomended for a reason, other than needing a pick-ax for frozen soil this time of year in Michigan? Once things thaw I'll be harrowing the manure piles and distributing them over the fields; in addition, I'd like to lime, fertilize (or what ever the ext. office reccommends). I'm sure its been 20 years or so since anythings been done with our land (we've had it for 15 and havn't done a thing with it other than spread horse manure on it).
thanks,
Mark
I'm enrolled in a Master Gardener class, and we just did the segment on soils.
A soil test can be done any time. You're right of course, about doing it in the winter due to frozen conditions, but you if you CAN get a representative sample, winter is the best time, administratively. It won't take near as long to get it back, they won't be very busy.
The best time to work soil amendments in is fall, that way they have the winter to incorporate. Lime takes a long time to work into the soil, up to 6 years depending on the type of lime you use.
When working with organics (peat moss, manure, compost) it's also best to do it in the fall. If you're SURE the compost is completely cured, you can put it on any time. Compost that is still working will cause more harm than good, because the microorganisms that are breaking the compost down need nitrogen to fuel the process, and they take it from the soil or even nearby plants. Same with manure.
There are test kits available to check compost samples to make sure they're cured. Basically, they test for ammonia and carborn dioxide, both of which are byproducts of microbial decomposition.
Sorry to get so wordy, I just LOVE sharing new knowledge...
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