Tesing Your Soil (On The Cheap)

When gardening, you soon learn that certain plants do better when the soil is either more acidic or alkaline in nature.

Here is a cool little trick/technique that you could use to determine your soils acidity.

1. Scoop some soil into a container. 
2. Add a half-cup of vinegar. If the soil bubbles or fizzes, it's alkaline.
3. If there's no reaction, scoop a fresh soil sample into a second container
4. Add a half-cup of water and mix. Then, add a half-cup of baking soda. If the soil bubbles or fizzes the soil is highly acidic.
5. Amend your soil with wood ash or lime, if it's acidic. Amend your soil with sulfur or pine needles, if it's alkaline.

Minor variations in soil don;t matter much, but if you get a big result, then something is not right and your soil will have to be amended.