Soil Testing

The first thing you should do if you are thinking about growing anything you intend to eat is have your soil tested for the common heavy metal contaminants (lead etc.) and plant nutrients. The UMass Soil Testing Lab will do a basic test for $10 and either mail or email you the results, often in less than a week. For another $5 you can find out whether your soil has a decent amount of organic matter in it or whether you really need to add a lot of compost to have healthy plants. Highly recommended.

If you are growing non-food plants, I still recommend a soil test, just so you know what you’re dealing with. But it isn’t as essential as finding out whether you are risking lead poisoning if you eat veggies out of your yard.

Next page: Starting a Garden