Doug McEvers

Jen,

Your friend may be talking about alfalfa autotoxicity, it inhibits the new growth of alfalfa, don't think it bothers other plantings.

From Google,

Alfalfa autotoxicity is a phenomenon where established alfalfa plants produce chemicals (medicarpin and phenolic compounds) that inhibit the germination and growth of new alfalfa seedlings, causing stunted, reduced stands. It poses a severe risk when reseeding old stands, often necessitating a delay of 1–3 weeks or rotation to another crop.

Alfalfa is a good nitrogen source as plant protein is nitrogen.

AI Overview

To convert protein percentage to nitrogen (N) percentage, divide the protein percentage by the nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor (typically 6.25, which assumes proteins are 16% nitrogen). The formula is: % Nitrogen = % Protein / 6.25. For example, 20% protein equals roughly 3.2% nitrogen


).

Ross,

This soil test did not copy and paste as well as I would have liked but this is from native prairie on our farm. Note the soil composition as expressed by Cornell Soil Lab, mostly sand, silt and some clay. How does this relate to your soil, I don't know, but soils here are comprised of mostly sand. I like oats as a soil building pioneer, does OK on few nutrients and a great nutrient scavenger.


Measured Soil Textural Class: sandy loam
Sand: 79% - Silt: 8% - Clay: 12%
Group Indicator Value Rating Constraints
physical Predicted Available Water Capacity 0.15 64
physical Surface Hardness 250 16 Rooting, Water
Transmission

physical Subsurface Hardness 250 68
physical Aggregate Stability 37.9 65
biological Organic Matter

Soil Organic Carbon: 2.5 / Total Carbon: 2.86 / Total
Nitrogen: 0.2

3.1 91

biological ACE Soil Protein Index 4.6 22
biological Soil Respiration 1.4 100
biological Active Carbon 696 89
chemical Soil pH 7.4 95
chemical Extractable Phosphorus 6.1 100
chemical Extractable Potassium 75.2 100
chemical Additional Nutrients
Ca: 9855.4 / Mg: 684.5 / S: 27.5
Al: 1.9 / B: 1.7 / Cu: 0.04
Fe: 1 / Mn: 13.7 / Zn: 0.2

77

Overall Quality Score: 74 / High

I believe the Raised Garden Blend has 20% pine needles, they call it mulch fines. The RGB is a good material for garden improvement, the pine needles probably keep pH somewhat neutral or slightly acidic depending on the rest of the blend.

https://www.kernlandscaping.com/soil

I would bury it as in improve the soil. Soil correctives if needed followed by high quality biological fertilizer. Get your soil working, good things will follow.

Likely the snow was mainly responsible for this tree going down, how about the wind during that time? 2 summers ago we had a 62 year old balsam fir snap off about 10 feet above the ground. This was a healthy tree in the middle of our grove north of the house. Balsam fir does not have a large exposure because they are lightly branched with small needles yet the wind was strong enough to take this tree. Planted it with my grandfather, he had brought it back from Upper Michigan. We seem to be having stronger winds here the last few years and not always related to storms, has me thinking about trees near our house.

Take the transformation of a piece of land as a personal challenge, see how good you can make it. As the land comes to life the rewards are many, we have witnessed this on our farm when we restored native prairie in 1993. This land has become an oasis for wildlife and for me personally, a go to place. Now it is part of a larger project in that we will be using this as part of a study on our soils. How quickly and completely can native vegetation bring back the soil vitality. In 32 years the restored prairie equals or exceeds the native prairie we have here in terms of soil health.

Prior to the prairie restoration the land was being farmed conventionally and a fair portion classified as highly erodible.

Just thinking out loud here. Why do things grow where they grow?

AI Overview
Bacterial-dominated soils (high Nitrogen, low pH) favor fast-growing crops, vegetables, and weeds, while fungal-dominated soils (high Carbon, higher pH) are essential for trees, shrubs, and woody perennials. Bacterial soils cycle nutrients quickly, whereas fungal soils provide long-term stability, water retention, and, according to a Review Considering fungal:bacterial dominance in soils, enhanced carbon sequestration.

I planted Bur Oak acorns years ago and as they grew moved some of them around our farm. Some took and some did not. Those planted near other tress seemed to mainly survive while those planted in grassland away from trees did not. Was it the fungus in the soil near the trees that allowed the transplanted oaks to take root and grow? The acorns were started behind our farm grove sandwiched in between a shelter belt. The survival rate of the acorns was very high except the fox squirrels found some of them !

To add further to the above. The transplanted oaks were mainly bare root with very little accompanying soil. If we could have moved them with more of a root ball along with some soil maybe those planted in the remote locations would have made it?

Phil makes a very good point and has me thinking about our farm soil. We are in the eastern bed of glacial Lake Agassiz and the soil here is composed of very fine particles with quite a high CEC. This land is prone to crusting and can be waterlogged with too much rainfall. Getting air into the soil and increasing organic matter is the quest, good productivity should follow. Residue management is a key feature in getting these type soils going.

I would take a good representative sample of the soil and have it tested. A suitable lab will tell you of the soil composition and the nutrient base. Should also be able to check for contamination, heavy metals and the like. If it is growing weeds it has some fertility, weeds are natures pioneers when it comes to getting soil working.

There may be some information on the silt by the agency that carried out the topsoil removal and added the river sediment.

I have found the steel in those older garden tools is a much better quality and will take an edge better. Found the head of an old standard garden hoe under our work bench and the celebration began. A new handle on that quality 6" hoe blade, makes me smile to think about it. Had purchased a similar hoe several years previous and the steel just would not sharpen well or hold an edge. Also did not seem to have much strength as it would bend easily. I rarely walk fields or grassland in the summer without a sharp hoe, my ecofriendly tool of choice.