Soil testing with an easy and super accurate with a soil test kit from Rx Soil. Plus, How and why I soil test and implement recommendations.
Rx Soil Nutrient Test Kit: https://rxsoil.com/nutrients?source=seasonalhomestead
Use code SEASONALHOMESTEAD for 10% off your order!
For more in depth information about the soil test kit and reading results, check out my blog post here: https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/the-best-professional-soil-test-kit/
Video Mentions (Contains affiliate links)
~Soil Probe: https://amzn.to/3IUGgJQ
~Favorite Garden Planning program: https://seedtime.us/jkmel4ukl4tonac09iap-5fs?ref=becky-porter82
~My sisters Amy’s garden + preserving planner -printable pdf version: https://tidd.ly/3xcIoqM
~My sisters Amy’s garden + preserving -book version: https://amzn.to/3XeEvw4
~Shop my favorite things: https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/shop-my-favorite-things/
~Music: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/5slh1q
~Favorite Garden Tools: https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/11-time-saving-garden-tools-for-a-large-garden/
Source for wood ash application rates: https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/wood-ash-fertilizer-zb0z09zblon/#targetText=Only%20use%20wood%20ash%20on,feet%20in%20a%20given%20year.
Chapters
0:00 Tools
1:33 My Favorite Soil Test
2:05 Getting Samples
4:31 How to Send Them Off
7:46 Reading Results
12:31 Why I don’t use other soil tests
14:23 Implementing Recommendations
40 Comments
Rx Soil Nutrient Test Kit: https://rxsoil.com/nutrients?source=seasonalhomestead
Use code SEASONALHOMESTEAD for 10% off your order!
How does the cost of Rx soil nutrient test compare to similar service offered by the state university agriculture school or county extension agent? I have lost trust in all things government-related but just curious.🙄
The soil pH of 4.9 for area No. 2 is very low. I would retest and investigate causes. What did the previous owner do here?
I’m looking for a good broad fork, sturdy and for tall people. Do you like the one in your video? If so where did you get it?
do your blueberries get eaten a lot by birds?
Thank you. Great timing. Just moved to a new place to have a large garden. And I have no idea what this soil needs.
Next time you go to spread the minerals you put out, try a hand held half gallon grass seed spreader, the kind you hand crank .
Not in Canada 🙁
Just ordered my kit.
Thanks for this info. Very informative.
Same experience with my extension office… I never got my results. Thanks for sharing.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Your thumbnail looks a bit like this painting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_Desert), but much happier. Great video as always!
Becky, you are so knowledgeable and I appreciate your advice and sharing with us that knowledge! I love your videos and look forward to each one! I love that your family helps you and they are learning so many life skills as they help at your homestead doing multiple chores and tasks! Great parenting!!!
Jealous of that flat ground! All ground is good ground though I reckon
I just ordered my kit! Thanks for the info!
Thank you so much for doing this video. It is so informative. Answered alot of my questions. We have tried to grow a garden for 3 years with no luck. I will be savings this video.
This was very educational. Thank you! I always get excited when I see you posted a new video. 😀
Awesome video! Thank you for walking us through the process and the results! Very helpful! ❤️
They don’t ship to Canada, if anyone has a Canadian recommendation let me know!
I’m making some new beds this year, was planning to till a good amount of compost into the ground, make raised beds, and then do no till from there. Should I test the soil before or after I till in the compost? Thanks!
I thoroughly enjoy your videos! love how you are incorporating help from your children. As they learn and grow, they are developing skill sets that will be so critical in future days.
That’s cool that it tells you what to put in your garden
Boy, am I glad I don't have to deal with all that, what a pain in the butt! I don't have time for all that, I just compost and plant. If I had the wood ash available I'd just add it to my compost (wish I had it- more compost). YMMV
Is it possible that it might be a lot of hype from the vendors trying to sell something? It's amazing that every test recommends Nitrogen, what a surprise. What did they do two hundred years ago before all the marketing? And from what I've read back then they had far better gardens than we do now.
I wish there was a definitive, accurate source for information, but probably not in my lifetime.
Do you purchase compost or do you make your own?
I love your content, I always learn a lot even though I’m not a homesteader. You have a very calming voice and energy!
Love the large garden and the passion for food growing. We have been growing here at our home since we built the house and moved in in 2014. It was hardwoods before and all the topsoil was scrapped off during clearing and construction. We have nasty, poor draining soil here so we built up on top of it for several years with wood chips. (I have a video showing our 9 year progression.)
We have never done soil testing. Just yearly added natural ammendments: mushroom compost, wood ash, coffee grounds (hundreds of pounds from starbucks), alfalfa pellets, chicken manure, etc. We have a massive earthworm population in our soil. If the dirt bugs are happy and the plants are growing that tells us the soil is fine. It may be nice to see the scientific numbers, but I wouldnt say it's a necessity for growing food. How did humans survive for thousands of years before testing existed?
What do you do to keep pests away?
Im out in the garden beds.. they are so full if weeds…aka sunflowers. Lol
Absolutely FASCINATING
Thanks for this video – so much information and explains everything I need to know about soil testing. I did it once 3 years ago and just assumed nothing changed. Boy, I was really naive! I've been growing my tiny garden in-ground, in grow-bags, in greenstalks, and in plastic pots and tubs. I sure need to think about what I'm doing way more than I did before. The soil is so much better to me – a human, than it was, but I have no idea what it is for a plant. Thank you again for thinking of this for a video!
We garden completely differently. I never have tested my soil. The less I do in the garden the better. I prefer to maximize my laziness. What I do do is to to add grass and weed clippings and leaves to the garden and fruit and nut trees from the rest of my acreage. I use a commercial mower with a blower catcher and hydraulic dump to do this. The only physical work involved is spreading this organic matter once it is dumped where I need it. I have compost piles but never turn them. I start a new one every year and only use the 3rd year pile on the garden. My neighbor dumps her horse manure on a pile on my property. I periodically move this manure to another pile with my back hoe loader until I get it as high as the loader will reach. I then let this big pile set for one or two years in which time it turns to compost and then use it in the garden. The most work I do in the garden is harvesting the food. Since I only eat whole plant food, if I weren't always getting hunger I wouldn't even do that.
Thanks I just ordered a kit. I always had trouble understanding the extension agents info as well.
I listened to a chemist last night who turned gardener. He said he uses litmus paper and an aquarium PH test kit. I didnt hear him say anything about the amount of nutrients but if you have multiple sites that all need a PH test that might be a more economical and faster way to go. I just heard him last night so havent tried it yet but its way more affordable than sending in one sample after another.
Another great video (and a kind reminder to test my soil as I get seedlings going this week!). 💗 We live on a 1/4 acre homestead in mid-MO and hope to settle in AR one day; we just love the Natural State! In case there are any brand-new homesteaders out there, or for folks who might be on a tight budget, some Universities local to you may offer free or "dirt cheap" (sorry, lol) soil testing through their Ag extension–especially if it's a Land Grant or A&M University. I really like this idea of soil testing for particular crops, like blueberries (an Ag extension will not do that, but will just do one basic pH test for you per year, from my experience). I will look into this Rx Test Kit link when I put my new beds in next month. Love your content Becky, and happy to see you and your family grow! Hugs, –Sister Kohrs
❤
You are great !
This is really helpful, definitely going to check out Rx soil. I love that they give recommendations for amending the soil, because I don't know the first thing about amending soil. We use manure, but thats the extent of my knowledge. Some day I hope to have a large garden like yours and eat from it all year long. sigh goals!
Is there a list of homesteaders that sell produce meat and the like over the internet? Thx
Video is concise and clear on soil testing. Love seeing your children in the garden with you. Great upbringing for these Angels~~