I thought it would be interesting to measure the Active Fallow impact on the soil and went ahead with the purchase of a simple soil test kit at Home Depot.
I took 4 different samples across the Nyland plot and 3 different samples across the backyard plot. Following the instructions I got the following soil test results:
Nyland
pH – neutral, K – surplus (K4), N – depleted (N0), P – deficient (P1)
Backyard
K – surplus (K4), pH – neutral, N – depleted (N0), P – surplus (P4)
Wow, it was surprising to see that neither plot seemed to have Nitrogen. I obviously immediately passed on this information to my friends at Coastalfields.
The good news is that Mary and Aaron “generally advise you to completely IGNORE the soil tests. No matter what you plant, if you practice Active Fallow, you will improve the soil. By increasing biodiversity and biodensity (by letting the weeds grow and tilling in the aisles regularly and the beds before and after crops), the soil will improve and your O-layer will get bigger…and your pH will become more neutral. Your soil and ecosystem will become more and more resistant to outside forces that would destabilize the ecosystem (such as drought, flood [had some of that today!], heat, cold…you name it).
Just water the seeds you plant (and the other plants in your garden) when they need it, till in the aisles and practice active fallow…care for all living creatures, make sure that all creatures have enough food, water and shelter. “
And so I will file the soil test results for now, keep tilling, planting, watering and harvesting until towards the end of the growing season when I know that my curiosity will take over and I will conduct another round of soil tests.
