Steve Reiners helped the students determine the health of garden soil.

Soil Science

An important part of growing healthy plants is starting with healthy soil.  Experiments were done to determine if the soil in our gardens was healthy.  The students were able to determine that the soil was not healthy, and then learned how we might improve the soil for future gardens. 

Specific tests were performed to determine the soil nutrient level and acidity.

Soil Testing – Steve Reiners, Horticultural Sciences, helped students test soil pH, and levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from their school gardens.  They found the soil was too basic, and had low levels of nutrients.

Beth Gugino provided samples of organic muck soil to demonstrate the texture and smell of good soil.

Soil Health – Texture, smell and color are all important when looking at soil health.  Science camp kids learned about each soil attribute from Beth Gugino, Plant Pathology, and also learned that earthworms are good indicators of soil health. The students desribed the good soil as crumbly, leafy, dark brown, interesting with lots of creatures, and had an earthy smell.  The unhealthy soil was described as light brown and boring with no smell.

Worm activity indicates good soil.

They also had the opportunity to look at and touch organic muck soil which can be found at the base of former lakes in this region.  This soil is unique due to its high organic matter content making it black in color and good for growing vegetable crops such as carrots, onions and cabbage.

The group counted worms in healthy vs. non-healthy soil, and found that a container of healthy soil had 44 earthworms while unhealthy soil had only 6.  Earthworms help to break-up the soil by tunneling through it therefore creating places for plant roots to grow and water to move.  They also eat dead leaves, roots and other debris, developing a more nutrient rich soil.  So, the more earthworms in the soil, the healthier the soil.

Worm habitat with muck soil on the top, and soil from our gardens on the bottom. After two weeks, some of the muck soil was mixed in with the garden soil.

In addition, the students had the opportunity to make earthworm habitats and see how the worms help build good soil.  The worms ate the lettuce and other organic matter in the habitats.  Worm burrows could be seen in the soil.