This PDF eBook from Leigh Tate's Little Series of Homestead How-Tos contains instructions for 19 low-tech tests and activities to learn about your soil: structure, texture, stability, pH, drainage, and earthworm counts. Learn how to make your own pH paper, read soil colors, and what your plants can tell you about your soil. Includes charts, tables, glossary, resources, and why all soil lab test results are not the same. A good resource for gardeners, homesteaders, homeschoolers, budding soil scientists, and anyone who wants to understand and improve their soil.
Chapters What Is Soil?
How To Examine Soil Structure
How To Do a Soil Smell Test
How To Test Soil Stability
How To Determine Soil Texture
Touch Test
Ball & Ribbon Test
Soil Texture By Feel Chart
Canning Jar Test
Texture Triangle (chart)
How To Use the USDA Web Soil Survey
How To Test Soil pH
How To Dig a Soil Sample
Kitchen pH Test
Red Cabbage pH Test
How To Make Cabbage pH Paper
Litmus or pH Paper Test
pH Meter Testing
How To Read Soil Colors
Infiltration, Drainage, and Percolation
How To Test For Drainage
How To Do an Earthworm Test
How To Read Your Plants
Symptoms of Deficiency
What Your Weeds Can Tell You
Why All Soil Lab Results Aren't The Same