How To Get Free Soil Testing at Soil Festival 2018

Join fellow gardeners, farmers, friends, family and neighbors to learn about healthy soil and growing healthier communities at Soil Festival 2018! RSVP here.

Join fellow gardeners, farmers, friends, family and neighbors to learn about healthy soil and growing healthier communities at Soil Festival 2018! RSVP here.

Food Well Alliance is thrilled about our fourth annual Soil Festival on May 5, 2018 at Truly Living Well, as we continue a tradition of celebrating soil as a key source for building gardens and healthier communities. 

This free event is for all ages and raises awareness of the benefits of using compost to improve and maintain high quality soil for growing healthy food.

Soil Festival 2018 will feature cooking demonstrations, educational workshops, a kids corner, and much more. Additionally, our friends at soilSHOP and the University of Georgia's Soil Lab will provide free soil testing and lead screenings for those who bring samples to the event.

Are you interested in a free soil test? Follow these steps to prepare your soil sample for testing at Soil Festival 2018:

Step 1: Identify an area of interest for your soil sample.

Step 2: Collect Soil - For a large area, collect soil from 5-10 random spots in that area, and combine in a clean container. For a small area, collect soil from 3 random spots and combine in a clean container. (See table below for sampling depth per spot.)

Step 3: Mix soil well in clean container.

Step 4: Remove pebbles, rocks, and roots, and air dry. Do not use a flame, oven or hairdryer to dry the soil!

Step 5: Transfer 1 - 2 cups of the mixed soil into a clean one-quart Ziploc bag.

Note: For more than one sample, repeat steps 1-5. Rinse your container between samples. Limit of 2 sample bags/person. Samples for screening only accepted until 4:00 pm, in order to have time for processing.

 

Area of Interest                             Sampling depth for each random spot
1. Garden Area                              - Collect all soil from the surface down to 6-8 inches deep
2. Play area/non garden area       - Collect all soil from the surface down to 1-2 inches deep

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Join fellow gardeners, farmers, friends, family and neighbors to learn about healthy soil and growing healthier communities at Soil Festival 2018! 

RSVP for Soil Festival 2018 here.