Loamy soil for family vegetable patch (part of family farm)  at  Wallace’s, Kilmore, Victoria, Australia

Description:       Loam mixed with sodic soil and pig manure (pyrolized -decayed by heat, over three year in heaps around the property, and moved to the backyard.)

(A sodic soil has high levels of sodium which stops water infiltrating well and thus affects plant growth.)

Location:             Slightly sloping backyard on rural fringe of rural town

Values for this loamy, sodic soil:
– Provides our family with fresh vegetables  (family farming)
– Provides us with healthy organically grown foods, without the use of pesticides
– Provides orphaned lambs with shelter and better feed in winter to build up their immunity
– Opportunity for our children to learn about growing foods organically

Challenges for this soil to produce foods – and our managements:
– Dry soil in summer – watering, and lucerne hay mulch to retain that water and decrease evaporation
– Retaining fertility – weeds are dug in the soil; pig manure was dug in at set-up 3 years ago, and mulch
– Produces habitat for insect pests – careful timing of seeds to sownwhen numbers of the relevant pest will be low.

See more – if you want to understand more about sodic soils and its soil chemistry, read this Tech Note from the Centre for Co-operative Research for Soil and Land Management . It is very comprehensive, including its diagrams.
To see how soils are managed for different purposes on the rest of this family farm, visit the Kilmore Soil Selfies for Stock and a Fairy Garden

Credits: Amanda Wallace, of Kilmore, gives permission for their photos and information to be used under a (cc) license 2015
Editing and page created by Jeanie Clark, enviroed4all®, Warracknabeal, for use in education under a (cc) licence 2015

Go on to visit other Soil Selfies

page published 18 October 2015, updated 9 January 2016