How to Teach Soil Analysis and Interpretation to New Students

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Martel80, Apr 20, 2016.

  1. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    Hi All,

    I'm currently beginning a 1 year contract in the south part of Lima, Peru ( Villa Maria del Triunfo & Pachacamac )

    More Info Here:
    https://permacultureglobal.org/proj...ulture-consultancy-for-the-south-part-of-lima

    I Have different challenge in this Contract.
    The biggest one, for me, is convincing the community that my advices have been tested and working ( I'm not much of a ''social worker'' or ''Psychologue'' by nature ...if you know what i mean) Anyone that worked with an NGO in south america for aurban agriculture project to help feed the poorest neighborhood will relate.

    The Community Garden ( Huerto ) have been open for 10 year now and their soil is still completly dead sand.

    So other then that, when i'll leave in 2017, i need at least one of them to be able to read the result of the analysis and take proper action.

    Some of them are illiterate but some of them have decent education aswell....and thats who i want to teach the soil analysis interpretation.

    I'm asking for a simple method for them to be able to interpret easily.
    Let's just say that i want to push it a level further then just the PH.

    I'm looking for others ideas.....
    I dont want to leave the project and everything crumble.

    I could talk about the project for an hour here but i'm not sure its of any use for my specific ''problem'' that i'm implying here.

    Anyhow,

    Thanks a lot for sharing ideas.

    Vamonos !
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2016
  2. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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  3. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    Hi Gandlaf,

    I'll be teaching how to read this :

    13055283_10207881858182185_913878592359376483_o.jpg

    I Need them to be able to send a soil test once a year and read the result and take proper action.

    It can get a bit tricky and i want to make sure they are not overdoing anything .

    I'm just looking for one of those ''easy to teach'' method.

    Mr Lawton is usualy a hero in vulgarizing stuff that could get a bit complicated for someone without a scientific approach.

    Anyways, I'm open to any suggestion.

    Thank you
     
  4. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    You will need to teach them what each item is and what it means to their soil and crops, mostly what it means to their crops.
    You will also need to teach them how to build soil once they know what is needed to build the soil so the crops will flourish.
     
  5. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    That will be a 20 hrs class just on that topic :/
     
  6. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    You are taking on bringing scientific thinking to a people who don't have any background in science. That means you have to be ready to open new ways of thinking so they can grasp not only the concept but the reasons they need to have this knowledge, never the easiest of tasks but always better than going for the rote memory type of teaching where the student goes through the motions with out having an understanding of why.

    I would imagine these folks are more in tune with what they see as natural occurrences. That always makes it harder for the teacher, unless the teacher can find ways to explain what the students already know but from a far different perspective. I have faith that you will find a way to get through to them in a manner that they can grasp and they will most likely grasp it faster than one might think when you put the knowledge into terms they are familiar with already.
     
  7. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    It occurs to me after reading Bryant's post: Is there a way to create a direct example of each soil analysis criteria related to an actual soil/plant representation? For instance, a plant growing in a high-salinity soil compared to one growing in a low-salinity medium. Even photos from google might convey the correlation/causation between each soil analysis item and plant growth indications ...
     
  8. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    So i'll have to start from the Plant tissues first, so then can understand the why of how hahaha.
    The way you just explained it gave me ideas.
    I'll try to develop a tecnique and pass it here so you guys can have a look and tell me what are your opinion on the matter.


    Yes, i agree.
    But for them to understand why there's a difference, i'll have to start from where the difference come from.
    Wich lead me to the plant itself first.
    What about i start with 3 totaly different type of veggie/fruits and make exercice on what should be a the proper way to grow them given their needs
     
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  9. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    if someone isn't interested enough in learning such things i would not waste time
    teaching them. they would likely not be able to take reliable soil samples or
    care about keeping good records either.

    instead, just have them practice basic "return to the soil" type things. if they are
    composting and keep worms then that is good enough.

    really, i've not done a soil test here ever and i can tell by direct observation that
    the garden soils are improving.

    when you do find someone who is interested and who is asking questions then you
    can give them all sorts of references and further information as they can digest it.
     
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  10. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    Well, I have a meeting with my ONG employee tomorrow.
    I'll see what they want me to do and what i can do.
    Like Gandalf said, the first thing i would do , if they agree and they give me the ressources for it, is to build decent soil.
    18 days compost technique will be what ill show them .
    Problem will be to find funds to pay for Manure and green material to be transported there for a complete year so we can build a decent soil on at least one of those community gardens.
    Thats one concrete thing.
    The other thing that i know they want me to do is give formation.
    Pretty much 3-4 hours a week for 10 months.
    I do have time .....i just need to know how im going to implement the teaching material with them.
    Its a complete desert here....and they are super poor .
    So lets hope i can makeit work properly.
    If i can leave and they have a decent soil structure , then i would be happy.
     
  11. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    since i don't know a lot of details, some of the below may not apply...

    when faced with sand... these things come to mind...

    0. where's your water source?

    1. dry composting toilet on-site. should be first thing you put in there if there isn't one already.

    2. require every person who visits to bring some clean organic materials. it doesn't have to be
    much. just so they think about it and what it takes to move stuff. and also because if you
    need just enough to jumpstart one garden or one tree or windbreak lines every little bit helps.

    3. do you have rocks at all (besides sand?) if not have people bring a rock or two. you'll
    need both wind and water breaks. if they can't bring rocks have them bring a stick or two
    for building a windbreak.

    4. have each person bring a little clay.

    5. have each person bring some water.

    6. when picking produce to take to market, remove as little stem as possible. retain as
    much organic matter on site as you can.

    7. native plants may show up once you can get a spot for them to sprout and grow.

    8. try not to plant trees before the hot/dry seasons unless you really plan on doing
    a lot of water hauling. this is exhausting and discouraging work. you want trees
    and shrubs planted at the start of the rainy season.

    the above will help get people to think of the components of basic viable topsoil and what
    goes into it. also it starts people to think about building the community ethic, where people
    gather resources and combine them.

    more importantly, each trip to the site should make sure the car/truck is full as possible
    to get stuff there. if you arrive with empty space that means someone else will have to
    bring it in a separate trip.

    also you mention 18day composting. in an arid climate that may not be always viable. i.e.
    you might have to stock pile things to wait for the rainy season. this is why i tend to just
    bury things as much as i can and then nature can work at it when the conditions are
    favorable. you can help such things along though by using rock slabs to cover piles to
    both protect from the sun and hold in moisture, but also the rocks will sometimes collect
    moisture from the air. if you have tarps or plastics those can help hold moisture too but
    i always prefer natural materials if more locally available.

    good luck with your meeting i hope that it goes well. :)

    if you have a way of printing a picture you can use this as an example
    of what i'm doing here:

    [​IMG]

    the contrast between my own native garden soil and what i get from
    the worm farm is obvious. i am using a very inexpensive method too
    so it can be done by anyone for very little expense.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2017
  12. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    ok, i went and looked at your pictures...

    that looks actually a lot more positive than i had in mind. :)

    you have green stuff growing there already and some windbreaks by the looks of it.

    listen, learn what is going on there now and see who the key people are with the
    most influence. demonstrate on a small plot. you should not have to bring in a
    lot of materials for a small plot. a little bit of clay can go a long ways. sheet mulching
    with cardboard over any improved area will help keep any added stuff from getting
    washed away by heavy rains.

    for your soil analysis session bring in samples from various areas and show them
    what those are like and then you can work with them to figure out how to address
    the local soil issues to improve it.

    what some people do not understand from cooler climates is that it is much harder
    to keep soil organic content in warmer areas. it helps to use larger chunks of
    materials and heavy rain leaching away of nutrients is usually an issue too so thinking
    more about soil protection is important. i would have to change a few things to
    garden in a warmer climate.
     
  13. Martel80

    Martel80 New Member

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    Hi Songbird,

    I'm going to starta bit harsch but the gardens are in Lima, Peru.
    Lima is the second most arid land in the world.
    Its a complete desert.
    I know that some part of the sahara get rain....
    Lima doesnt.....at all !

    They have a source of potable water on each site.

    Main problem here is that someone tought them to grow on raised bed hahahah
    So imagine that,
    No rain
    Raised bed
    On complete sandy soil... ( dead like DEEEAAADDDD )
    With salty ocean wind blowing each bed away + burning the plants.

    So yeah, first thing here will be to bring in fresh manure in HUGE quantity and start doing an enormous amount of 18 day compost pile
    Then ill explain them why we have to dig the soil and fill it with this compost ( so the wind dont blow it away and burn their plant again )
    After that ill explain them what companion planting is and why they need to do this to get rid of their nematode( mites ) problem.
    After we will implement massive mulching.
    After ill explain them why now they only need to use 10% of their former use of water.

    Thats an overview of the plan on the terrain

    In between, i'll teach them a complete permaculture certificate in 120 hrs on 10 months ( 3-4 hours per week )


    My post here was more about how to teach soil analysis interpretation.
    I already have a plan to grow decent soil.
    The problem here is elsewhere.

    Thank you very much for your input , I really deeply appreciate !
     

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