05/31/2026
Today I ran a simple mason jar soil test with our native soil from the farm to see what we are really working with beneath our feet. After shaking the jar with water and a little dish soap, the soil begins to sort itself into layers. Best to wait 48 hours to clearly see the separation.
At the bottom you will see sand, in the middle you will see silt, and at the top you will see clay, with bits of organic matter often floating or sitting near the surface.
Those layers are like a report card for the land. Sand tells us how fast water will drain and how quickly the ground will dry after rain or irrigation. Silt shows us where much of our plant available water and natural fertility live. Clay tells us how much water and nutrients the soil can hold but also how easily it can stay wet or compact. When we understand that balance, we can choose crops that fit the field, adjust our irrigation, and fine tune our harvest schedule instead of guessing.
Here at the farm, these small tests guide our crop plan and help us stay accountable to the soil as we grow food for our community.
As we approach our first harvest day on June 13, we are not just watching plants grow we are learning our soil so every season gets better.
