SAGE Garden Soil Sampling

Garden Plots at the SAGE Garden

The Starker Arts Garden for Education (SAGE) stands on a gentle south-facing slope on re-purposed grazing land which, prior to that, was a wetland area.  The nearby green space, as well the prevalence of ducks and geese offer testament to the reclaimed nature of the land.  The SAGE garden area is divided into six plots along the slope with an additional area that was used for chickens. 

Soil Sample

Our group took six samples of the soils; one from each of the lower and upper plots, a single sample from the two middle plots and another from the chicken coop area.   To eliminate sampling bias, each sample consisted of soil collected at three sites within the sample area; these were then collected into a single container (Ziploc bag) and homogenized. On one of the plots we took samples just from the middle, and not from anywhere near the edges. During the previous harvest, the SAGE gardeners said that there was a problem with the vegetables coming from the outside area of that plot. Therefore, they wanted us to test the middle section to help determine what the variable was.  Aside from the general benefit of having soil information, the north-eastern plot (upslope and rightmost, as one looks upslope) has had stunting issues in the past, and the SAGE gardeners hope to figure out why from the information gleaned.  Plots two and four (bottom right and middle right, looking upslope) have dense leaf cover, while plots one, three, five and six do not.

Really hard soil!

Homogenized soil sample

When the samples were taken from the leafy area, we made sure to push aside the organic matter so that we only were testing the soil. In the chicken coop area, we had a problem with taking samples. It was much harder to take the samples because the soil was a lot more compact, especially where the chicken coop once stood.

We made sure to not put the samples in anything metal (like buckets) because metal buckets are galvanized which can interfere with testing results.  The homogenized samples (approx. a single baggie-full) were assigned sample numbers by the Central Analytic Lab, and taken there for testing. 

Soil Samples ready for lab

After our group took our samples, we then helped with other jobs around the SAGE garden. Two people turned compost, two pulled weeds, and two fed the worms. Over all, we were grateful to be able to visit and take samples from the SAGE garden and have such a wonderful learning experience.