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Re: Soil Testing -- Yea or Nay?

BRateaver wrote:
> 
> In reply to Mr. Ross, I would never suggest that just adding compost alone
> would be enough, if you are starting to garden. Then one should add all the
> standard soil amendments, to be sure all the minerals are there. Then adding
> the compost supplies the soil organisms.
> 
> I would always supply the rock phosphate and other rock dusts, granular
> seaweed,  bonemeal if a safe source is found, the nitrogen sources such as
> alfalfa meal or organic cottonseed meal or composted manure or other seed
> meals etc. These are the base of real soil, with the organisms.
> 
> It is really true, that after about 5 years you need to add less, because the
> soil just gets better and better all the time, in contrast to chemical
> methods, where soil very definitely degrades all the time. Look at the US soil
> in toto--very poor and eroding. It is not sensible to point to Iowa and say,
> all is OK, because there for some reason probably due to the Flood remains,
> there is very deep soil, and  that kind is not commonly found on earth.
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