Lughnasa Harvest Moon
Soil tests create the information base for deciding on what products and what amount of 
them to use next year. Fall is the best time to do them since the broadcast fertilizer can be laid down before winter.
I used a clean trowel, a plastic bucket and my knees. To do a soil sample involves a clean cut into the soil of six inches, then a small slice of that cut, top to bottom, into the bucket. This process repeats several times in different areas, then you blend the soil and take 1.5 cups of it and put it in a plastic bag. I did this twice, once for the vegetable garden and once for the orchard.
A soil test sheet, provided by International Ag Labs, takes down garden size and what kind of testing you want done. That all gets mailed to lab in Farmington and a while later, a recommendation comes back with very specific amounts and products.
My dealer, Luke Lemmer in Plato, Minnesota, will compile the broadcast according to the labs recommendations and will also supply the other products. The soil test goes in today.