Soil Nutrients Ahoy!

After receiving the comprehensive soil report, I ordered some granulated vitamins for the soil.  Rather, I ordered a blend of soil nutrients that I will be able to add to the soil when I till.  Grapevines grow deeper than many other crops, and as a result, fertilizers and soil nutrients near the surface tend to have a lesser effect on them.  Thus the concept of terroir is very important for a vineyard.  Still, it is wise to prepare your soil as best as possible.

In order to do that, I had the soil analyzed.  The analysis showed that there were several avenues to improve the fertility of the soil.  One avenue was to add fertilizers that plants need as food.  Another was to lower the soil pH to a more hospitable range.  Another was to add micro-nutrients that plants needs (much like vitamins).

I ordered enough soil nutrients to do an entire half acre.  However, I am not going to start with that big of a project.  Currently, we are thinking about starting at a quarter of that size (an eighth of an acre).  Still, the fertilizer for half an acre weighed around 350 lbs, and is in a granulated form (much like what you would disperse on a lawn).

The actual fertilizer came in a big bag.  These bags are meant for up to two thousand pounds of nutrients, and this bag only had about a sixth of that.  Still, it is quite heavy.  I'm planning on transferring the nutrients to smaller bags and buckets to get it across the river.