Andy Patterson Permaculture
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Topography, Pedology Samples & Hydrology Contours
The above map shows the very limited topography (red cross hatch), location of pedology samples taken (lime green numbers) & the hydrology contours (blue cross hatch) of the study area, superimposed on the zone analysis map. The results of the soil analysis can be found here.
Geology & Soil Analysis
In addition to performing a soil
analysis (below), I have done some research on the soils in my area. British
Geological Survey maps show the geological bedrock to be alluvium. Sitting
on top of the alluvium are “Loamey and Clayey soils with naturally high
groundwater” (National
Soils Resources Institute), or more scientifically “Dry Clay Loams, or
Gleyo Eutric Fluvisols” (European Union Survey).
I took several pH measurements
around the garden, thus:
Area
|
pH
|
Number on Map
|
Lawn (next to fruit bushes)
|
7.0
|
1
|
Vegetable plot
|
6.5
|
2
|
Orchard (centre, away from
trees)
|
7.1
|
3
|
Nettle Stand
|
7.1
|
4
|
Compost Heap
|
7.0
|
5
|
Ash from recent fire
|
7.1
|
6
|
The 'Number on Map' column refers to the numbers visible on the Topology, Pedology Samples & Hydrology Contours map, in lime green. I made observations of soil samples from three of the areas above (the other two are not as functionally important to me):
Area
|
Description
|
1. Lawn (next to fruit bushes)
|
Very dark brown to black in
colour. Clumps of soil. Grey appearance. Greasey smear mark on glass (forma
5- 10 cm clumps). Much undecomposed material; small twigs, and root- like.
|
2. Vegetable plot
|
More friable than above. Less
clumped together. Some lumps, circa 1- 2 cm across. Light grease marks on
side of glass. Loamy appearance, little undecomposed material. Intermediate
in colour between sample 1 and sample 3. Dark brown.
|
3. Orchard
(centre, away from trees)
|
Lighter brown in colour. Some
undecomposed material; rootlets, blades of grass, etc. More clumps than
sample 2 about 1-2 cm across. One larger clump c 10cm. No reasemarks on
glass. Examination with a x 10 handlens reveals occasional grains of sand,
which are absent with sample 1.
|
The results in all cases are
indicative of clay loams. All samples have virtually no silt, but varying
degrees of sand and mostly clay. Samples 1 and 3 have the largest fraction of
clay, and a modicum of sand (10- 20%). Sample 2 (from the vegetable plot)
however, has a larger proportion of sand (circa 40%), and also a lower pH (the
standout value of 6.5 from the table above). This is not so surprising when we
consider the vegetable plot has been used historically, and was used in recent
years to grow vegetables following a hiatus for an unknown period of time. I
delivered a topping of manure to the plot about a year ago, which may account
for the lower pH (plus the sandier condition of the plot). Samples 1 and 3 are
more akin to the ‘natural’ state of the soil. I would hazard a guess that the
area which floods (sample 1) which is more clay- like than any of the other
samples, and accounts for a slight hollow in the lawn, has had a layer of
topsoil removed which was transported to the vegetable plot. This would make
sense. The bungalow was built in the inter- war period. Self sufficiency and
vegetable growing was much more prevalent than today, and the homeowner no
doubt needed to extract as much productivity from the thin soils as possible in
their vegetable plot, and could afford to sacrifice a bit of lawn, although the
seasonal flooding may have come as a surprise. All of this is conjecture, but
explains the nature of the soils I have analysed.
From left to right: soil jar test samples from the lawn, vegetable plots, and orchard respectively.
Tuesday 2 September 2014
The Earth Laughs in Flowers
Margaret Fuller: The Prose of Life
I fear I have not one good word to say this fair morning, though the sun shines so encouragingly on the distant hills and gentle river and the trees are in their festive hues. I am not festive, though contented. When obliged to give myself to the prose of life, as I am on this occasion of being established in a new home I like to do the thing, wholly and quite, - to weave my web for the day solely from the grey yarn. ~Margaret Fuller~
Meditations of John Muir
“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” ~John Muir~
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