Getting Your Soil Tested
There are two kinds of soil tests. The first is to test your soil for its nutrient contents, and the
second is to test for heavy metal contaminants. Here is a little bit of information about how,
when and when to do each of these tests.
Nutrient Testing
The Nova Scotia Soil testing Lab, located at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, will test your
soil for organic matter, acidity and other essential nutrients (but not heavy metals). They will
provide recommendations regarding the amount of lime you should add to reach a soil pH of
6.5. Soil sampling should be done in the fall, after the crop has been removed. Sampling in the
early spring, when the water level is high, can cause misleading analysis, especially for pH and
lime requirement. In order to be sure that you get the proper analysis for your soil, we must
know what you are growing, ie: Is the soil from your garden or from your flower bed?
How to Take a Garden or a Flower Soil Sample
Step 1: Obtain soil sample boxes and sample submission forms from the local field office of the
Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture or from the Quality Evaluation Division, Laboratory
Services in Truro.
Step 2: Take a garden trowel and go down 12 to 15 centimeters (5 to 6 inches) in 6 to 10
different areas of your garden or flower bed.
Step 3: In a clean bucket or pail, empty the contents of each area. Remove plant debris. After
you have done this, mix the soil together.
Step 4: From this mixture, take a 500 mL (2 cup) sample. This sample will be a good
representation of the garden or flower bed soil.
Step 5: Place the 500 mL (2 cup) sample into the box. If you do not have a soil box, a freezer bag
that can hold the full sample of soil can be used.
Step 6: When you receive your soil test results, consult your local agricultural representative or
specialist about recommendations.
Cost is $20.50 per sample + Disposal fee + HST. A cheque or money order made out to the
Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture must accompany the soil sample. If you are mailing the
sample, please address your package to the address below.
Sample drop-off location:
176 College Road, Harlow Institute
Truro, NS B2N 2P3
Hours of business:
Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Samples can be dropped off Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for same-day
processing. Samples received after 3:30 pm will be logged into the system and processed the
next business day.
For more information, visit http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/qe/labserv/soilsamp.shtml.
Heavy Metal Contaminants Testing
You can get your soil tested for various contaminants if you are worried about the health of
your soil or are unsure of what the land has previously been used for. You can get your soil
tested at Dalhousie for approximately $25 (to test for four metals). Generally in Halifax you
would test for Lead, Arsenic, Copper and Zinc.
Some options for testing include:
Daniel Chevalier,Manager, Minerals Engineering Centre
Dalhousie University
1360 Barrington Street
GH Murray Building, Room G101
Halifax, NSPhone: (902) 494-3955
Fax: (902) 494-3506
Email: mec@dal.ca
AGAT Laboratories
11 Morris Drive
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Tel 902-468-8718
Fax 902-468-8924
Toll Free 1-888-468-8718
MAXXAM Labs
200 Bluewater Rd., Suite 105 Bedford, NS B4B 1G9
Tel: (902) 420-0203 or (902) 832-4852
Fax: (902) 420-8612 or (902) 832-4948
Toll Free: (800) 565-7227
Reading Your Results
The CCME (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment) has established a soil quality
guideline for agricultural land, you can use this as a baseline for what acceptable levels of each
of these metals are in your own garden. These are all measured in parts per million (ppm).
Maximum acceptable concentration for
agricultural lands – ppm
Arsenic
Copper
Lead
Zinc
12
63
70
200
pH measures if your soil is acidic, alkaline or neutral, indicated by numbers from 0-14 with 0
being extremely acidic and 14 being extremely alkaline (“basic”). Most plants prefer a neutral
soil, somewhere in the range of 6 – 7.
Organic matter refers to the plant and animal materials that exist in the soil. It is important to
be constantly adding organic matter to improve soil structure and replace micronutrients that
plants need to thrive. According to Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, a good organic
matter concentration is greater than 3.5%.
Gardening in Contaminated Sites
If you’re not sure, or you know that your site is contaminated, you can build raised beds and
bring in clean soil from elsewhere. There are lots of ways to do this: building a box at least 6
inches high out of scrap wood or stone tiles and laying a sheet of landscaping cloth along the
bottom. Food-safe plastic buckets salvaged from grocery stores also make great container
gardens. The Urban Garden Project has a list of soil suppliers in HRM.
If you’d rather work with the soil that already exists on your site, there are lots of ways to
reduce possible health risks. We reached out to professionals and urban farmers across Canada
and the United States to ask their opinion on mitigating the risks of contaminated soils, and
together came up with the following recommendations:

“Eating dirt” is by far the most significant way that heavy metals enter the human body.
Wear gloves if possible, especially if you’re gardening with children. Clean your hands
afterwards and wash produce carefully.

Avoid weeding on very dry days, or use the “chop-and-drop” method where you cut
young weeds just above the soil and let the greenery fall to the ground as mulch.

Since a little soil sticks to roots, peeling root vegetables and growing lots of leafy greens
and fruits is a good approach.

Last but not least, adding organic matter to your soil reduces the amount of
contamination that is taken up by your body and dilutes what exists in the soil.
Similarly, adding wood ash, lime, or egg shells to make the soil less acidic reduces heavy
metal absorption in humans. These things also help your Nova Scotian garden grow!
For more information on heavy metal contamination you can read our report at:
http://www.ecologyaction.ca/content/urban-garden-project