Soil Testing and Crop Rotation

 

Fall is a great time to get your soil tested and think about rotating crops in your garden. Before you put in your garlic (mid-October for us), get soil samples from the different beds in your garden. Check out https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalo g/files/project/pdf/ec628.pdf to find out how.

These links will help you find out where to send your samples https://catalog.extension.oregonstate. edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/em8677_0.pdf & https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/ec1478 so you can find out just the right amendments to add to your soil for next year’s crops.

Leaves like lettuce, herbs, kale, arugula, spinach, and broccoli, are first in the rotation because they need to get first crack at the nitrogen (N) in the soil. This is very important for our soil, which tends to lack nitrogen, unless you put in lots of nitrogen along with compost and/or animal manure in the spring, not the fall.

Fruits include tomatoes, melons, squash, peppers, and eggplant. These plants need phosphorus (P) to produce fruit and nitrogen is less important to them. However, fruits like tomatoes need extra calcium in the soil and, since it takes a while to break down from added lime, it is a good idea to add your lime in the fall where you plan to put your tomatoes next year.

Root crops, like carrots, beets, onions, and garlic, need even less nitrogen than fruits; instead, they need lots of potassium (K) to develop their roots. Our soil has lots of potassium because of the rocks that were broken down to form it, so your root vegetables should thrive if you make sure the soil is broken up enough for their roots to go down deep into the soil.

Legumes are mostly green beans and peas. These plants as well as many cover crops can help replenish the nitrogen (N) in the soil, and at the same time, need lots of nitrogen themselves. That’s why they have nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots. So don’t skimp on nitrogen come spring in the beds where your peas and beans are going to grow.

Corvallis Backyard CSA

Have extra produce from your garden after you’ve thinned your plants? Consider do-nating to the Corvallis Backyard CSA whose mission is inclusion for all people in Corvallis. It does this by delivering produce boxes to families from different cultures

(Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American) while building mutually supportive relationships with the families. Contact Sandi Cheung sandi.cheung@gmail.co

m to find out how you can drop off produce that will be added to the CSA boxes. The boxes are delivered to families every Thursday.

Interested in learning other ways to support the Corvallis Backyard CSA? Check with rachel@shonnards.com or text/call 503-779-8570.

Food Action Team -- Edible Garden Group meets on Wednesday September 9 from 5-6:30.  For more information contact Rachel Barnhart at rdbarn4@gmail.com.