What Does Loam Provide in Soil?
- Sandy soil does not retain water well and provides good drainage for plants. It is formed from rocks like limestone, quartz, granite and shale.
Silty soil is one of the more fertile soils and is made up of fine minerals and organic particles. It drains almost as well as sand, but holds nutrients better.
Clay soils offer poor drainage and clump together. Clay often gets water-logged, but it retains nutrients very well and so is a good component of soil, but not a good stand-alone soil. - Loam is comprised of all three soil types: sand, silt and clay. It is considered to be the perfect soil and has roughly 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt and 20 percent clay. Loam is ideal for cultivation because it is nutrient-rich, drains well, but retains enough moisture for roots to thrive.
- You can get a soil testing kit from many garden stores or catalogs, as well as your local extension service for a very detailed idea of your soil's acidity levels and textures. However, if you would like just get an idea of what your soil's type is, before adding organics to it, you can:
1. Grab a handful of soil and squeeze it to form a ball.
2. Push into the ball forward with your thumb, creating a "ribbon." If you can't do it (the soil doesn't hold together enough), you have a sandy soil.
3. If you can make a short ribbon (about 1/2 inch), you have a loamy soil.
4. If you can form a ribbon easily (it would just keep going if you let it), you have clay. Also, you have clay if you can start making small pots with your handful. - You can add things to your soil to make it more fertile, or more "loamy." Manures, applied in small doses in early spring, are a great source of nutrients. Mixed with other organics like leaves or grass clippings, manures shouldn't be added to edible crops once they start to flower or leaf out. Compost made up of your kitchen scraps (save dairy or meat), leaves and grass clippings can add nutrients to your soil.
- Sowing a cover crop after your garden harvest will give you a great green manure that will keep your soil fertile. Planting something like a field pea or oat in the fall will allow reinvigorate your soil before it is covered with snow. In the spring, just rake off the foliage (put in your compost pile) and plant again.