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Soil Test Results Are In - See How We Did And Compare Tests

5/28/2017

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We are excited to show you the results from soil testing around the cob cabin we are building. This structure is part of our ecological design (permaculture) education and demonstration site that includes the natural building made of cob (learn about cob from our blog post), a food forest (here is a blog post about some of the plants in the food forest - more information and videos to come soon), graywater systems including an outdoor shower, composting toilet, off-grid solar system and more!

Please be sure to read our previous blog post about Baseline Soil Testing before you continue. That post talks about how and why we did the testing.


Remember, healthy soil holds far more water than dirt and can provide all the food plants need so you don't have to apply fertilizers or pesticides.
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The results from 3 soil tests:
Soil Test San Diego County
UMassAmherst Soil Test - $15 - click photo for link - http://ag.umass.edu/services/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory/lab-services

Soil test results San Diego County. Copyright Permasystems
Logan Labs Soil Test - $25 - click photo for link - http://www.loganlabs.com/testing-services.html

Soil Test San Diego County. Copyright Permasystems
Texas A&M Soil Test - $10 - click photo for link - http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/
Comparison of select variables:
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Results
As you can see from the results, most of the tested nutrients fell within "optimal levels." The majority of variables were measured in PPM (parts per million). The reports were fairly comparable and showed some consistency, for example, the Ph tests found amounts of 6.2, 6.4 and 6.7, relatively low variation. Conversely, there were a small amount of variables that had extremely high variably, for example, Maganese, measured at 10.3, 54 and 12.08, all apparently measured in PPM, the 54 number from Logan Labs is nowhere near the others.

The point of these tests is NOT to use the results as a gauge to adjust our soil, but to serve as a baseline as we build soil biology. Adding more of this or that nutrient is pointless as virtually all soil on the planet contains the nutrients to support healthy plants. The problem is they are often in a form not available to plants but are locked up in dead soil. To make the nutrients available to plants we need to create soil that is alive with bacteria, fungi and other beneficial life - that can deliver nutrients to plants. We will go much further into this in future blogs.

The two numbers out of these tests that we are focusing on are pH and organic matter percentage. We are very happy to hear our pH is about 6.4. This means our soil is of an ideal pH to grow both annual (bacterial dominant) and perennial (fungal dominant) plants. Being slightly on the acidic side means we have a little more ammonium than nitrate, boosting the fungal content of the soil which will provide more food for perennial plants, the type we are focusing on for the education and demonstration site. A diverse array of perennial plants can provide food year-round, perennial roots go deeper than annual so they are better able to reach water and nutrients while also building soil structure, and, they only need to be planted once. We still want some annuals though, the key is to get them self seeding so you don't spend time sowing seeds each year or at least use seeds that are easy to sow, just toss em out! Our organic matter is at about 3%, something we want to boost a lot! Probably want to shoot for at least 20%.

Remember, the key to all this is building healthy soil that is alive and diverse with beneficial life!

Resources

To learn a lot more about soil biology from our favorite soil scientist, Elaine Ingham, visit her site at

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/

Also, Matt Powers has been working with Elaine as well as doing lots of his own amazing work with Permaculture. Visit his site at
http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/



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Minisode 10 - Functional Fencing

5/17/2017

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We fenced in 1/4 acre around the cob cabin. This fence serves many purposes (stacking functions). For one, we want to keep rabbits, deer and gophers out of this area. Outside the fence we planted lots of yummy things (share the surplus) for the wild animals but inside the fence we want an easy to manage safe planting zone.

The fence will also keep our little dog safe and inside. We have coyotes, foxes, bobcats and mountain lions in the area. Additionally, in the future, we will have chickens and maybe some little pigs or goats and we want them to be safe from predators as well.

The fence provides structure for vines and other plants, which we are planting a lot of! This will serve as a wind break to reduce evaporation and provide additional shade. Additionally, the fence defines a fire break on both sides of the predominant wind directions.

Our fence is comprised of:
  • Poles are re-purposed well casing (I think it is 1.5"), super cheap and last super long, pounded into ground about every 8 feet
  • 5 foot tall deer and wildlife fence, woven wire so it is easy to contour along uneven ground, holes go from small at the bottom to large at the top
  • 2x bare wire strands stretched horizontally above main fence, 1 foot spacing, to be sure the deer don't jump over
  • 2 foot tall gopher fence (a type of chicken wire), 3-4 inches underground, then secured to main fence, to keep rabbits out and pets in
  • 2 foot expanded steel lath buried in ground, sprinkled hot chili pepper powder in bottom of trench to repel gophers
  • Large gates are steep tubing and small gates are re-purposed wood
  • Bamboo wedged into gates to keep deer from jumping over

The whole fence took about 7 days of work, most of those days with 2-4 people working. It should last many decades. Thanks to those that helped! Now lets grow some food!

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Rainwater Harvesting System Installed At San Diego Elementary School

5/7/2017

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This past week we were very excited to install a rainwater collection system at Birney Elementary School in University Heights, San Diego, CA. It included a 300 gallon ferrocement cistern (Model LFC-300) that we hand-made at our shop and then assembled on site. The catchment area is a large multi-classroom roof so they will get lots of rainwater to use for their school garden!
School garden. Copyright Permasystems
Birney Elementary school garden
School gardens are extremely effective for experientially teaching kids about natural history and ecology, nutrition, water cycles, carbon cycles, soil ecology, and food cycles -  not to mention what good food should taste like! They also teach kids environmental stewardship, foster a connection with nature and build practical skills. Having a rainwater harvesting tank adds an additional observable element to the garden letting kids actually see what is happening with water on site. It also saves the school money by using less water and reducing demand on stormwater drainage systems.
School garden water tank. Copyright Permasystems
Ferrocement water tank adjacent to school garden
The rainwater from the tank will be used to water trees and plants in the garden. A garden hose attachment makes is easy to move the water around using only gravity. The tank is light proof so no algae can grow, letting water be stored as long as needed. The tank and all parts of it are potable grade to provide the highest quality water. A first-flush device (#2 in photo below) allows the first few gallons from a rain event to be diverted from the tank and back to the drain ensuring the tank water is extra clean for plants.
Rainwater harvesting tank parts. Copyright Permasystems
The kids are planning to hand paint the tank - something you can only do with cement tanks. Plastic and metal tanks flex too much so the paint would flake off. We look forward to teaching the kids about water and rainwater harvesting in upcoming classes!

Remember, just 1 inch of rain over 1000 square foot of roof equals 600 gallons of water!


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