Soil Amendments at the Corner

By Jeanmarie Morelli
C
himacum Corner has a new self-service soil
amendment bar: a wide array of organic fertilizers
in bulk bins. Rob Story, Chimacum Corners
manager, has selected the best products for improving local
soils, based on his experience as a farmer.
Azomite, Robs favorite, is a mineral from a volcanic and
marine deposit formation providing over 70 trace elements.
Standard choices include single-ingredient products like
kelp meal, dolomite, and blood meal. Local farmer Scott
Richmond blends a fertilizer that produces high-yielding,
vibrant vegetable crops on his farm. His Chimacum Blend,
a complete organic fertilizer, available only at Chimacum
Corner is a variation on the formula by Steve Solomon,
founder of Territorial Seed Co. and author of Growing
Vegetables West of the Cascades.
Soil amendments are part of a management plan that not only makes
nutrients available to plants but also builds soil fertility and improves
its ability to hold water and nutrients. Te term soil amendments refers
to any substances added to the soil, whether fertilizer, or composts and
manures. Te term also includes rock powders from naturally occurring
mineral deposits, mined and pulverized. Adding organic matter and rock
powders enhances the chemical, biological, and physical components of
the soil.
Organic fertilizers are amendments that have undergone very little
processing and guarantee a minimum percentage of major nutrients.
Tese percentages are stated in the same shorthand as synthetically-
produced fertilizers. Te numbers indicate the percentage of nitrogen
(N), phosphate (P2 O5) and potash (K2O). Nutri-Rich, one of
the amendments, is listed as 4-3-2. Tis indicates 4% nitrogen, 3%
phosphorus, and 2% potassium, usually referred to as N-P-K.
Compost and manure are organic amendments that dont guarantee a
specifc percentage of N-P-K because sources can difer in nutrient content
depending on how they are produced. While organic fertilizers generally
have lower concentrations of nutrients than processed chemical fertilizers,
they last longer in the soil and strengthen rather than weaken the soil
ecosystem.
Soil amendments can be used for top-dressing crops. Vegetable crops tend
to be heavy feeders. Tey quickly grow large and are harvested. Place a
sprinkling of pelleted chicken manure by the roots of crops and scratch it
into the top inch of soil to give crops a boost before harvesting. Te fast
release of manure can contribute to higher yield and more robust plants.
Top-dressing is also useful for ornamental plants, or any plant not as
vigorous as surrounding plants in the same bed or feld.
Tree Ways to Apply
Amendments:
Prepare soil feed the
benefcial microbes
Top dressing give
crops a lif
Finishing boost
increase yields 2 weeks
before harvest
Feed the soil and the
soil feeds the crops.
Chimacum Blend,
a complete organic
fertilizer, available
only at Chimacum
Corner is a variation
on the formula by
Steve Solomon,
founder of Territorial
Seed.
Soil Testing
T
he best way to know which soil amendments and how much of them to use is by testing your soil and
following the recommendations for adding nutrients. Jeferson County Conservation District (JCCD)
has a new program for soil testing. Tey help landowners decide which among the array of tests best serve
the landowners needs and they help interpret the test results. Te soil test could be part of a comprehensive
farm plan that evaluates overall performance of the land, pasture health, and livestock management. Te plan
might include cost share and funded programs that will help the farms become more sustainable as well as more
economically viable.
Visit their website at http://www.jefersoncd.org/programs.html or call 360-385-4105 to request soil test forms.
Soil tests start at $25. Te ofce accepts soil samples on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month and ships
them for a nominal fee. Te district ofce is located at 205 W. Patison St., Port Hadlock.
You can download instructions for testing soil and a soil submittal form. Submit about two cups of soil for each
sample. While some sources recommend testing annually, at the very least test your soil once to determine if
there are any nutrient defciencies or excesses that might be the cause of unknown garden problems.
Measuring soil pH or the acidity (sourness) or alkalinity (sweetness) of the soil, is the simplest test. Te
pH scale starts at zero (the most acidic), 7 is neutral, and ends at 14 (the most alkaline). It is a logarithmic scale,
so each whole number refects a ten-fold change in pH. For example, 7.0 is ten times more alkaline than 6.0.
Vegetable crops do best in soils with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Dolomitic lime containing magnesium and calcium will
correct or sweeten acidic soil and provide much needed magnesium west of the Cascades. One of the benefts
of correcting the pH is allowing existing soil nutrients to become available, for example soils with a pH below
6.0 have less available phosphorus. Soil pH afects the life of the soil; a neutral soil supports the most diverse
population of bacteria and fungi. An adequate pH prevents heavy metals from being absorbed by plants.
Battery
Acid
Lemon
Juice
Cola Cofee Orange
Juice
Corn Distilled
Water
Sea
Water
Antacid Ammonia Bleach Lye
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Optimal Range for Most Plants
ACIDIC NEUTRAL BASIC
Bunchberry, Crowberry, Rosy Twistedstalk, Twinfower
Tea
Aster, Birch, Bleeding Heart, Blueberry, Brackenfern, Chimquapin, Fir,
Hemlock, Indian Pipe, Oregon Iris, Pearly Everlasting, Pine, Rattle-
snake, Plantain, Rhododendron, Scotch Broom, Spreading Phlox,
Spruce, Wild Ginger
Amica
Blackberry
Alder, Apple Tree, Chicory, Larch, Timothy Grass
Yew
Beaked Hazelnut, Black Oak, Clover, Colorado Spruce,
Douglas Fir, Red Cedar, Spreading Dogbane, Vetch
Ash, Baneberry, Black Hawthorne, Buckthorn,
Buttercup, Camas, Catalpa, Chokeberry, Cinquefoil,
Columbine, Currant, Dandelion, English Ivy,
Foxglove, Honeysuckle, Larkspur, Loosestrife,
Maidenhair fern, Maple, Ninebark, Orchard Grass,
Oregon Grape, Oxalis, Penstemon, Rose, St Johns
Wort, Saxifrage, Shooting Star, Snowberry Adapted from a chart available at ecoplexity.org
Soil pH Tolerance Levels for Plants
Plant Nutrients
S
oils contain nutrients that are used by plants in diferent quantities. Primary macronutrients: nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium are the ones needed in the largest quantities. Most soils dont provide enough
for crops. When any of these nutrients are very low, plants show signs of stress. Secondary macronutrients
needed in large quantities are calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. Western Washington soils, especially in areas of
high rainfall may be low in all three.
Micronutrients or trace elements are equally important but are needed in much less quantity. Tey include
chlorine, iron, manganese, boron, copper, zinc, molybdenum and cobalt. Most of the micronutrients will be
available in soils with an adjusted pH and bufered by organic matter. Boron may be defcient especially in root
crops, brassica crops (cabbage family), and caneberries (raspberries and blackberries).
Some necessary elements are available from the aircarbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Soil Ecosystem
S
oil is a living ecosystem, teaming with organisms from insects and earthworms to fungi and bacteria. In
fact, teaspoon of healthy soil can contain as much as a billion microorganisms! Soils rich in organic
matter promote healthy populations of microbes that keep the nutrients cycling rather than washing away.
Organic farming and gardening enhance the life of the soil by feeding the benefcial soil microbes that help the
farm to thrive. Another goal of organic systems is improving the soil tilth, or the physical condition of the soil
that allows it to hold water and nutrients.
Organic growers work to improve cultivated land and remember the old adage feed the soil and the soil feeds
the crops. Organic matter can be added in the form of soil amendments, compost, and rotted animal manure.
Planting cover crops and turning them into the soil as green manure is yet another source of organic matter.
Nutrients and Possible Sources
Nutrient Beneft Fertilizer
Nitrogen Increases vegetative growth blood meal, feather meal, chicken manure
Phosphorus Flower and seed formation rock phosphate, fsh bone meal
Potassium Increases drought tolerance by
regulating stomata
azomite, kelp meal
Calcium Regulates transport of other nutrients azomite, dolomite limestone, fsh bone
meal gypsum, oyster shell
Magnesium Supports chlorophyll production azomite, dolomite, epsom salt
Sulfur Component of vitamins and amino
acids
gypsum, epsom salt
Micronutrients Beneft Fertilizer
Boron Seeds and fruits, metabolic regulation azomite, kelp meal, oyster shell
Copper Component of enzymes kelp, oyster shell
Iron Chlorophyll production azomite, kelp, oyster shell
Manganese Photosynthsesis, nitrogen metabolism azomite, kelp, oyster shell
Molybdenum Aids nitrogen use azomite, kelp, oyster shell
Zinc Plant growth enzyme azomite, kelp, oyster shell
Silicon Cell wall development azomite
Western Washington
soils, especially in
areas of high rainfall
may be low in
calcium, magnesium,
and sulfur.
Dolomitic lime
containing
magnesium and
calcium will correct
or sweeten acidic soil
and provide much
needed magnesium
west of the Cascades.
Soil microbes actively digest organic fertilizer when the soil warms to 50 F, then the nutrients dissolve in
water, and plants absorb them. Te release time of nutrients can stretch for several months. Te soil microbes
themselves can be thought of as slow-release fertilizer in organic systems, because when they die they release
nutrients as well.
Soils of East Jeferson County
G
laciers, mountain formations, and marine infuences have
shaped the land of East Jeferson County. Te Strait of Juan de
Fuca or Salish Seacreates the northern boundary and the
Olympic Mountains are the southern boundary. Te extended waterways
of Puget Sound including Dabob Bay and the Hood Canal wrap around
the eastern shores, and the Miller Peninsula with its saltwater marshes
wrapping around Discovery Bay lie to the west. Soils tend to be acidic, low
in magnesium, and low fertility. A few valleys have fertile soil. Our native
soils tend to be acidic thus many native plants such as rhododendron,
huckleberry, madrone, and blueberry are adapted to a moderately low pH,
between 4.5 to 5.5.
Te Soil Survey for Jeferson County Area compiled in 1975 by the
USDA can be found online at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_
MANUSCRIPTS/washington/WA631/0/wa631_text.pdf
Chimacum Valley has the best agricultural land classifed as Semiahmoo-
McMurrary-Mukileto with organic soil formed from plant remains in
glacial depressions and stream valleys. Quilcene-Alderwood-Cathcart soils
occur from Crocker Lake east along 101 to north of Quilcene. Te area,
covering about 6,200 acres is underlain by shale, sandstone or compact
glacial till and gets about 30 to 45 inches of precipitation annually, wetter
than the Chimacum Valley.
Te Quimper Peninsula lies in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains.
It is characterized by pockets of native grasses and Garry Oaks referred to
as prairies. Te soil series called Clallam Hoypus-Dick Association covers
34,750 acres.
Instead of distinct watersheds, this peninsula is characterized by
freshwater wetlands formed by a high water table. Quimper Peninsula
has elevation from 50 feet to 500 feet. Precipitation 18-30 inches. Gravelly
sandy loam can be excessively well drained. Areas of compacted glacial till
can be poorly drained.
For more info:
WSU Soils, Compost, and Mulch
http://gardening.wsu.edu/compost-and-mulch/
WSU Soil Fertility in Organic Systems
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/PNW646/PNW646.pdf
Soil Dr. Elaine Ingham
http://rodaleinstitute.org/2013/life-in-natural-agriculture-soil-part-2/
Colorado Master Gardener Program
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/234.html
Jeferson Co. soil Survey
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/WA631/0/wa631_text.pdf
About the author:
Jeanmarie Morelli is a professional
horticulturist and copywriter from
Port Townsend, WA.
www.edibleliteracy.com