1. 21 Acres Soil Assessment
Team: Martin Herrin, Melody Hearten-Johnson, and Aileen Ponio
Water and Sustainability
BIS 392

2. Location: 21 Acres
21 Acres includes a bio-diverse farmstead with trails for physical activity, interpretive educational signage, and cultivated farm plots used to demonstrate sustainable and organic farming practices.
21 Acres is committed to making local, sustainable-grown food a cornerstone of healthy lifestyles and communities.

3. Soil Tests Texture PH Phosphorus Potassium Nitrate Ammonia Nitrogen
Humus
Nematodes

4. Sample Sites
Field Sample Site 1 A B C A B C 1 A B C 3 1 2

5. Textural Analyses Weight Wet (g) Dry (g) Bulk Density (g/ml) Void
Space (%)
Soil
Saturation (%)
Texture
Field 1
Site A
171.7
102.6
0.51 81 44
Sandy Loam
Site B
181
107.1
0.54 79 47
Site C
163.9
85.9
0.43 84 46
Field 2
136.1
89.7
0.45 83 27
Loam
144.5
99.7
0.50
Silt Loam
158.7
73.1
0.37 86 48
Field 3
162.6
120.4
0.60 77
181.1
119.9 40
181.5
118.2
0.59 78 41
Sand

6. pH
Results
- Field 1:
Site A - pH = Site B - pH = Site C- pH = Field 2: Site A - pH = Site B - pH = Site C- pH = Field 3:
Site A - pH = Site B - pH = Site C - pH = 6.0
Role
The relative acidity or alkalinity of soil is indicated by its pH. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Any pH reading below 7 is acidic and any pH above 7 is alkaline. A pH of 7 indicates a neutral soil. The pH is important because it influences the availability of essential nutrients.
Recommendations
Potatoes grow best in pH
conditions from ,
Strawberries in , and
carrots and lima beans prefer soil
from pH.

7. Phosphorus Role Recommendation Results
Field 1 Site A - 25 lb/a Site B - 75 lb/a Site C - 75 lb/a
Field 2 Site A - 25 lb/a Site B lb/a Site C - 75 lb/a
Field 3 Site A - 75 lb/a Site B - 75 lb/a Site C - 25 lb/a
Phosphorus is recorded in pounds per acre (lb/a)
Role
Phosphorus in soil is essential for strong roots. It also helps protect plants against disease and poor weather conditions allowing them to grow faster.
Recommendation
Cover cropping either green manure or clover. Adding bone meal or phosphate rock will increase phosphate levels. Bat guano is also good.

8. Potassium Role Recommendation Results
Field 1 Site A lb/a Site B lb/a Site C lb/a
Field 2 Site A - <100 lb/a Site B - <120 lb/a Site C - <100 lb/a
Field 3 Site A -110 lb/a Site B -130 lb/a Site C -120 lb/a
Potassium is recorded in pounds per acre (lb/a)
Role
Potassium is essential for optimum growth. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and beets thrive in high levels of potassium. Potassium is also needed for sugar formation in fruits and vegetables, so more sufficient levels of potassium equals better tasting fruits and vegetables.
Recommendation
Cover crop or use compost to increase potassium in the soil. Add organic fertilizers such as kelp meal, greensand, or sulfate of potash.

9. Nitrate Nitrogen Results Role Recommendation
Field 1:
Site A: 40 pounds per acre
Site B: 40 pounds per acre
Site C: 40 pounds per acre
Field 2:
Site A: 20 pounds per acre
Site C: 20 pounds per acre
Field 3:
Role
Nitrogen is essential to all crops success.
Recommendation
Fertilizers… No Way!
Sod, alfalfa grasses…Oh Yay!
Sod offers the soil the chance to decompose organic matter as opposed to using N fertilizers made from fossil fuels.

10. Presence of Nitrate Nitrogen
Nitrogen is essential the success of any crop.
We observed Rhizobium bacteria() on the crop roots at 21 Acres.

11. Nematodes We discovered Nematodes in the soil at 21 Acres!
Nematodes are an excellent source of plant-available Nitrogen production in the soil.

12. Ammonia Nitrate Role Recommendation
Results
Field 1
Site A: Very Low
Site B: Very Low
Site C: Very Low
Field 2
Field 3
Role
Ammonia is another form of nitrogen.
In forest soils ammonia is the most abundant form of nitrogen. If there is an adequate rate of nitrogen transformation, the humus layers of a forest soil will produce excessive concentrations of ammonia nitrogen.
Recommendation
Cover cropping and Green manure crops.

13. Humus Results Role Recommendation Field 1
Site A: 1
Site B: 1
Site C: 2
Field 2
Site C: 1
Field 3
Site B: 2
Scale:
1-low, 2-Medium, 3-High (Agricultural soils)
2-Low, 3-Medium, 4, high (Garden greenhouse soils)
3-Low, 4-Medium, 5-High (Organic soils)
Role
Humus consists of the complex remains of fresh plant and animal residue after extensive chemical and biological breakdown. It accounts for % of the total organic carbon in soils. It can modify the physical properties of soil, strongly affecting its chemical and biological properties.
Mineralization process that converts raw organic matter to the relativity stable substance that is humus feeds the soil population of micro-organisms and other creatures, helping maintain high levels of soil life.
Recommendation
Cover cropping, Green manure crop.

14. THANK YOU! Eat some dirt and Hug a tree, Team Dirty