The dirt under your feet:
Getting to know your soil
Dana Ecelberger
Jefferson County Conservation District
February 28, 2015 Home & Garden Show, Port Townsend, WA
Jefferson County Conservation District
• Shold Business Park (360) 385-4105
• Special purpose, non-regulatory government
agency
• Established in Dust Bowl era to assist farmers in
protecting valuable soil. Has evolved to include
water quality, agricultural Farm Planning, many
best management practices, cost share and
habitat restoration and protection
• Supported through grants: federal, state, county
and competitive grant process
Conservation District Services
• Soil testing & Recommendations
• Forestry technical assistance
• Native plant assistance and Tree Sale
• Farm Planning
• Water quality monitoring and fish
expertise
• Resource Library
• Cost share
Dana Ecelberger
23 years as an organic farmer on the Northern Coast of California.
Community gardener, urban composting teacher, garden writer, native plant specialist,
landscaper and manager at Jefferson County Conservation District.
Isn’t it just dirt?
• We tend to take soil for granted and even
to have a rather derogatory view of it as
“just dirt”.
• Most plant life, and therefore most animal
life, depends on soil (topsoil) for optimal
growth.
• Creation of topsoil is a SLOW process.
You don’t miss the water till the well
runs dry! The silent crisis…
• Globally, we are losing our valuable topsoil at an
alarming rate.
• Soil erosion rates in the U.S. are estimated to be
10-30 times higher than the natural replacement
rates. This means, according to some soil scientists,
that at the current rate of soil loss, we have only 60
years of topsoil left. **
• Remember the Dust Bowl era. That is what the
planet will look like without the vital skin of topsoil.
Try farming in a desert
Image from http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/dustbowlandaftermath.html
So, let’s talk some dirt…
• Healthy soils are critical in seed emergence and development
of strong, nutrient rich, resilient plant life.
• Soil texture, organic matter content, pH, nutrients and micronutrients, biological activity, mycorrhizal interconnections, and
soil structure are important considerations when managing
your soil.
• Soil texture (proportion of sand, silt and clay particles) cannot
be changed but it can be improved for plant growth through
the addition of organic matter, appropriate plant species
selection, careful management of water application and
manipulation of micro-climates.
• Organic matter builds and stabilizes soil structure and can
reduce the potential for soil erosion, while improving water
retention and/or drainage.
Do it yourself soil texture test
Topsoil is a thin layer of biologically active, nutrient rich soil
known as the A Horizon, created by the complex interaction of
weathering parent rock material, climate, decaying vegetation
and micro-organisms. *
How does Nature make soil?
• Parent rock breaks down through “mineralization”: Weather,
movement of the earth’s surface and interior, bacteria, roots,
earthworms…
• Rocks seem solid but are really a conglomeration of minerals
that are useful to plants (plant nutrients).
• Soil fertility will vary depending on the types of parent rock on
your land.
• It takes decades, centuries and even longer for rocks to break
down into usable minerals.
• Organic matter builds up on top of the A Horizon. This is called
the O Horizon and is where the majority of biological and
mycorrhizal activity takes place.
• Organic matter has to first be processed by soil organisms for
the nutrients to become available to plants. *
The Nutrient Cycle
Graphic from http://www.sswm.info/category/concept/nutrient-cycle Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management
Soil Chemistry 101
• Plants take up nutrients in the form of either positively or
negatively charged ions through root absorption of water.
• Soil particles have receptive sites on their surface to interact
and bond with those ions.
• Sand has the smallest amount of soil surface, Silt the next largest
and Clay the largest.
• Minerals are critical in the slow release of soil nutrients.
• Nutrients can become “bound up”, or unavailable to plants,
when soil is out of balance.
• Acidic soils are often deficient in calcium. Iron, manganese and
aluminum can become toxic in acid soils.
• Excess potassium and nitrogen make nutrients, including calcium,
unavailable to the plants and can become toxic at high levels.
• Calcium deficiency can result in blossom end rot, death of the
growing tips and buds, tip burn, cavities in root crops, and brown
edges on leaves.
Most of us are not chemists, so how do
we manage our soils?
Good news!
• Soil tests are easy!
• NRCS has a soil survey online where you can find your
soil types.
http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.h
tm
• Compost is our best friend
• Well made compost replicates natural processes of
creating rich topsoil in a speeded up time frame.
• Conditions the soil
• Adds nutrients in proper ratios
• Recycles food and paper wastes
• Adds organic matter
• Triggers biological and chemical processes in soil
Healthy soil is full of living organisms that are
critical to the chemistry and fertility of the soil.
• Long-term application of chemical fertilizers can acidify soil
and bind nutrients, as well as inhibiting the biological activity
in the soil.
• Fungicides kill beneficial mycorrhizae and other symbiotic
fungi.
• Fumigation of soil kills the microbes and other organisms that
are critical in the break-down of organic matter; this
decomposition is the only way nutrients become available to
plants.
Adding compost will trigger biological activity in
your soil as well as adding nutrients.
Managing our soils for optimal
performance and long-term health
• Breaking down of parent material takes a long
time. We can help with the long-term, slowrelease fertility of our soils by adding, in addition
to compost, the following amendments:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rock dust
Glacial dust
Mineral powders
Jersey Green Sand
Dolomite
Calcium
Limestone
The Magic of Composting
What is compost?
• Manure from herbivores, food scraps, fallen leaves,
garden waste, soil, newspaper, branches and just about
any organic material
• Combined with time, water, oxygen and organisms
• To create a substance that:
• Conditions the soil
• Adds nutrients
• Kicks off chemical reactions that make available even
more nutrients
• Increases water holding capacity
• Helps strengthen plants so that they can survive less
than ideal conditions and fight off disease and pests…
Lots of ways to arrive at Compost
The Recipe
• 3 parts Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen: 3 to 1
This is where the energy comes from. High carbon materials
tend to be brown and dry like leaves, straw, shredded
newspaper and branches.
• 1 part Nitrogen to 3 parts Carbon: 1 to 3
This is where the organisms come from that “cook” the
carbon. High nitrogen materials tend to be green or
colorful, like food waste, grass clippings and plant
trimmings.
• PLUS:
• Oxygen: This aids the decomposition process. Turning the pile
helps to keep it aerated.
• Water: The pile should have as much water as a wrung out
sponge. The water keeps biota alive and well.
How to build a compost pile
1.Clear a piece of ground the size you want your pile to be, or
the size of your compost bin . 3 feet wide by 3 feet across by 3
feet wide is a good start. Over 8 feet tends to be too big.
2.Start your pile with some pliable branches or shredded clean
cardboard to get air circulation from bottom.
3.Alternate layers of “brown” and “green”. Remember 3 browns
to 1 green so if you have 3 inches of leaves, use only 1 inch of
grass clippings.
4.Add some llama, goat, rabbit, sheep, gerbil or chicken manure
to help heat the pile. Some native dirt is a good way to get
mycorrhizae into the pile.
5.Lightly water each layer, if needed.
6.Keep building until your reach your desired height. Cover with
a layer of browns.
7.For fastest decomposition, turn pile every 3-4 weeks.
Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizae are fungal “roots” that exist with vascular plants in a
symbiotic, generally mutualistic relationship where the mycorrhizae
make plant roots essentially longer and therefore able to access more
water and nutrients than they would otherwise be able to do and the
plant provides sugars to the fungus.
Cross section of a home compost pile
What can go into my pile?
Do’s
Browns to compost:
Greens to compost:
• Fallen leaves (do not use diseased
leaves from fruit trees, roses and
other plants
• Finely chopped woody or semiwoody prunings
• Pine needles
• Untreated wood sawdust
• Shredded black & white
newspaper (soy inks are best)
• Non-waxed cardboard with all tape
removed
• Clean straw
• Clean wood ash, sparingly
• Vegetable and fruit scraps
• Garden waste
• Manure from non-meat
eating animals
• Tea bags & coffee grounds
(unbleached filters)
• Clean, crushed egg shells
• Lawn clippings
• Bread and grains, in
moderation
• Young weeds WITHOUT
flowers or seed heads
Don’ts
• Meat, fish, bones
• Dairy products
• Grease, greasy
foods
• Plywood or
treated sawdust
• Diseased plants
• Dog or cat feces
• Poison oak or ivy
• Plants with rhizomes
• BBQ or coal ashes
• Plastics or other noncompostables like
tape
• Weeds with flowers
or seed heads
• Avocado shells
• Any sprayed plant
material
Maintaining and nurturing your pile
• Keeping the ratios of carbon to nitrogen , air and water at an
optimal level is the key to making good compost. Remember 3
Carbon to 1 Nitrogen, damp as a wrung out sponge and
enough air flow to keep life respiring.
• Turning your pile every 2-6 weeks will speed up the
composting process. Having 2-3 piles in process is a good way
to keep them turned regularly. Just turn the 1st one into the
2nd one and so on. Do this twice and you are probably ready to
roll with beautiful compost.
• Heat is an indication of biological activity. Having adequate air
circulation will assist in creating adequate heat to properly
“cook” your compost, as will adding some herbivore manure.
Goat, sheep and llama manures are some of the least weedy.
Horse and cow manure can be full of weeds. Be aware of
animals which have been wormed and given antibiotics.
3 Pile System
Compost Tips
• Take the temperature of your pile to test if it is ready or not. You can
do this with a compost thermometer or you can just plunge your
hand in up to your elbow. When cooking, it should get hot enough to
steam. When done it is cool to the touch.
• A cold pile may take up to 6 months to turn into usable compost. A
hot pile can be done in as little as 6 weeks, if turned regularly.
• If it smells bad it is not getting enough oxygen and/or is too wet. Add
more browns. Keep it covered in the rainy season.
• If you are getting ANY kind of animal activity (rodents, raccoons, etc)
in your pile then freeze food wastes for a week before adding to the
pile.
• Break woody debris into smaller pieces to speed decomposition.
• Layer grass clippings sparingly. Big clumps of grass will break down
slowly and will begin to smell rotten.
How to know it is “Done”
• Finished compost should look and smell like rich,
dark soil.
• The baggie test: Place some of your compost in a
ziploc bag in a cool, dark place for a few days. It
should smell good when you open the bag. If it
smells rotten or strong then your compost needs to
keep working for a while yet.
• Large bits of decomposed food (especially avocado
shells), or woody debris can be sifted out as long as
the majority of the compost is completely
decomposed. These bits can be added to a newer
pile.
Thank you!
• See our website www.jeffersoncd.org for :
• More resources on composting
• Resources on pruning, native plants, organic farming, and
much more
• To sign up for our digital newsletter and notification of
classes, workshops, volunteer opportunities and special
events
• Call or email us for information on:
• Soil testing ($25 a sample with recommendations)
• Farm planning
• Cost share programs
• Our annual Tree Sale
• (360) 385-4105 or info@jeffersoncd.org