[Plot 1 Problems]

Just over a year ago I did one of those simple soil tests with a jar of water and a little detergent as I wanted to see just how much clay was in my soil. As the slightly poor quality picture shows I had a tiny layer of grit at the bottom and then a huge layer of silt topped off by a layer of clay. I actually thought there would be more clay in it!
I repeated the experiment from the same bed this week and what was immediately noticable was the huge amount of organic matter settled above the grit No wonder it's so much eaiser to work now and my crops are much more productive. Last year my broad beans were only setting 1 or 2 pods per plant, but some of this years have between 6 and 8.

[lettice]

Looks good and beans especially love all that compost material and always tell you so with a great yield.

Just a thought did you do a soil test for ph, wondering if that has changed in anyway too.

[Plot 1 Problems]

I haven't actually, as everything has grown fairly well I've just made the assumption that it's somewhere in the middle...
Having said that, my brassicas seem to do very well, yet my spuds less so, so I'm guessing the soil is leaning towards alkaline.

[upert]

I have used a ph probe to measure my soil ph. Popped it in, the needle flickered and went back to where is started which was neutral. Wasn't sure it worked. I bought some ph test papers and I got a fairly decent reading. Touch alkaline.

I will try this water jar test, it looks interesting. I have seen the tin can test where you extract the moisture through gentle heat, burn the humus and are left with sand to determine what proportions you have. Maybe I'll try that in the quieter months.

[mrs bouquet]

Years ago, when I was at college, we were taught to take soil samples by drilling into the soil about 12" and pulling the core out.   Then we had to break down into 3" samples and test each one.  I remember being amazed at the difference each of these readings were.  A good lesson I have not forgotten.  I am glad your soil is being kind to your plants.  regards  Mrs Bouquet