Sand is difficult, but it sounds like you are making good progress. I too have very sandy soil and I believe it’s the porosity that makes it difficult to hold the nutrients and moisture. Stay the course. Anything good, that’s worth having, usually takes a lot of work.
Scott - Sand has a lack of organic matter and organic matter is the best substance to hold nutrients! By never tilling and planting good blends progress can be made fairly quickly. Blends are important as different plant species/families feed different microbes and microbes are necessary to convert minerals to a usable form for plants.
@@GrowingDeerTV Hi there. Thanks a lot for the information. I just received my soil sample report from A&M, I’ll be contacting you soon for guidance. Thank you very much! 1 CH 29:11
Congratulations Grant! I was really looking forward to the results of your soil test. I am so grateful you have shared your journey through this process. Proof of your hard work paying off is in your soil analysis, foodplots, and wildlife. Congratulations! We just finished up no till overseeding on our farm and every time I would stop and check were the colters on the seeder cut the soil there were worms everywhere. It has been 10 years since we started transitioning to organic farming. Thanks to incorporating what we have learned from your show we have added top soil instead of loosing it every year and reduced inputs on most of our acreage. (So glad we are not buying any synthetic fertilizer anymore, especially this year) Ward Labs soil analysis is a great way to monitor your progress and address deficiencies I appreciate how they explained it all out in this video. 👍
Great info. I’m in Florida about 30 miles north of Orlando in eustis. I struggle with the sand I’m trying to grow in. It’s getting better after 3 years of working it. I strictly no till but my tonnage is lacking in spots. Gonna use this lab for testing from now on because I need to get this figured out. Tired of just adding fertilizer with not so great results. Thank you for the awesome info as always. Keep up the great work.
Chris - Great! Ward Lab has been good to work with. It's important to increase the organic matter by growing lots of biomass from multiple species. Keep me posted!
I love this episode and appreciate the deep dive into all of the "other" ways that we can really quantify soil health. Thank you for bringing these good folks in to perform this true soil health analysis and translating that into terms that every day land managers can use. My one question is why they skipped over the CEC explanation? I know that's a complicated topic, but I have always looked at that number as sort of like a "final grade" on your soil. Is there something I'm missing?
@@GrowingDeerTV - Which biological measures should I be referencing? Are you talking about tissue sample analysis or is there something else from this video that I should be looking at, instead of CEC?
I've got limestone and clay on both sides in a pretty diverse wetland and dryland habitat. Poplar-Tupelo-Sweetgum-LoblollyPine swamp on 3 acres, natural Springs and lots of floodplain from the ancient creek. On both sides dryland Oak Hickory habitat primarily Water Oak and Sand Hickory. Great to see the science behind soil testing. I suppose my question would be Dr.Grant, Do you see letting the land "rest" and grow 6-12' tall weeds as beneficial? I usually cut the grass once a year at the end of winter. Goldenrod, BlackBerry, Little Bluestem, Lady Fern, Black Eyed Susan, Pokeweed and Beauty Berry are the majority of this undercanopy. Thanks 😊
"Weeds" are natures tools to insure the soil is covered. Weeds are certainly better than bare soil. It's most important to never disk the soil. That's the most damaging action we do to soil. Young pokeweed is good deer forage!
Sounds like his voice is sped up. Fast forward sounding. Very knowledgeable group. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Stephen for watching!
Sand is difficult, but it sounds like you are making good progress. I too have very sandy soil and I believe it’s the porosity that makes it difficult to hold the nutrients and moisture. Stay the course. Anything good, that’s worth having, usually takes a lot of work.
Scott - Sand has a lack of organic matter and organic matter is the best substance to hold nutrients! By never tilling and planting good blends progress can be made fairly quickly. Blends are important as different plant species/families feed different microbes and microbes are necessary to convert minerals to a usable form for plants.
@@GrowingDeerTV Hi there. Thanks a lot for the information. I just received my soil sample report from A&M, I’ll be contacting you soon for guidance. Thank you very much!
1 CH 29:11
Congratulations Grant! I was really looking forward to the results of your soil test. I am so grateful you have shared your journey through this process. Proof of your hard work paying off is in your soil analysis, foodplots, and wildlife. Congratulations!
We just finished up no till overseeding on our farm and every time I would stop and check were the colters on the seeder cut the soil there were worms everywhere. It has been 10 years since we started transitioning to organic farming. Thanks to incorporating what we have learned from your show we have added top soil instead of loosing it every year and reduced inputs on most of our acreage. (So glad we are not buying any synthetic fertilizer anymore, especially this year) Ward Labs soil analysis is a great way to monitor your progress and address deficiencies I appreciate how they explained it all out in this video. 👍
Thanks for sharing your success story! Glad we could be a small part of it!
Great info. I’m in Florida about 30 miles north of Orlando in eustis. I struggle with the sand I’m trying to grow in. It’s getting better after 3 years of working it. I strictly no till but my tonnage is lacking in spots. Gonna use this lab for testing from now on because I need to get this figured out. Tired of just adding fertilizer with not so great results. Thank you for the awesome info as always. Keep up the great work.
Chris - Great! Ward Lab has been good to work with. It's important to increase the organic matter by growing lots of biomass from multiple species. Keep me posted!
I love this episode and appreciate the deep dive into all of the "other" ways that we can really quantify soil health. Thank you for bringing these good folks in to perform this true soil health analysis and translating that into terms that every day land managers can use. My one question is why they skipped over the CEC explanation? I know that's a complicated topic, but I have always looked at that number as sort of like a "final grade" on your soil. Is there something I'm missing?
CEC is one of many indicators. It's a chemical measure and biological measures have proven to be more inportant.
@@GrowingDeerTV - Which biological measures should I be referencing? Are you talking about tissue sample analysis or is there something else from this video that I should be looking at, instead of CEC?
I've got limestone and clay on both sides in a pretty diverse wetland and dryland habitat. Poplar-Tupelo-Sweetgum-LoblollyPine swamp on 3 acres, natural Springs and lots of floodplain from the ancient creek. On both sides dryland Oak Hickory habitat primarily Water Oak and Sand Hickory. Great to see the science behind soil testing. I suppose my question would be Dr.Grant, Do you see letting the land "rest" and grow 6-12' tall weeds as beneficial? I usually cut the grass once a year at the end of winter. Goldenrod, BlackBerry, Little Bluestem, Lady Fern, Black Eyed Susan, Pokeweed and Beauty Berry are the majority of this undercanopy. Thanks 😊
"Weeds" are natures tools to insure the soil is covered. Weeds are certainly better than bare soil. It's most important to never disk the soil. That's the most damaging action we do to soil. Young pokeweed is good deer forage!
Thanks for the video! I am interested in how they test the aggregate stability? and what would be 100%?
Great info. I just got my summer blend shipment last week. When do you plan on planting on your place? I’m in Central Oklahoma.
Jeff - We are planting now - with rain in the forecast!