What’s the ‘dirt’ on soil health?
Things need to be alive to be ‘healthy’ so it can be a bit of a challenge to think of soil as being alive! What is soil? Soil is a…
Healthy soil for a healthy planet
knowledge to grow
Did you know that healthy soil is essential for a healthy planet? It only takes a few extreme rainfall or wind events to remove an inch of topsoil along with all its complex nutrients that are vital for plants. Soil is one of the major determinants of human health and it provides our food; the fibers we wear; it cleanses our air; plays a role in our climate; and purifies the water we drink. Soil is far more important than many people realize. The more we begin to understand the importance of soil, the better we’re able to nurture it and the healthier we will become.
SoilHealth.ca helps growers to achieve better results. It starts with understanding your soil.
What is soil?
Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Soil is a medium for plant growth and a means of water storage, supply, and purification. It is a modifier of the Earth’s atmosphere and a habitat for organisms. Soil is influenced by climate, location and position on the planet, living organisms, and the soil’s minerals interacting over time. It continually undergoes development by way of numerous biological, chemical, and physical processes. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness, soil can be regarded as a living ecosystem.
A living, breathing ecosystem
Billions of organisms inhabit the upper layers of soil, where they break down dead organic matter; predators hunt and consume prey; and some spend only part of their lifecycle in the soil, releasing the nutrients necessary for plant growth. Soil microorganisms include bacteria, actinomycetes, algae, and fungi. Larger soil inhabitants are called macro-organisms and include earthworms and arthropods such as insects, mites, and millipedes. When the ecosystem is healthy and functioning, each type of organism plays a role in the soil ecosystem, suppressing disease and supporting the growth of healthy plants.
Why test your soil?
A soil test will determine the current fertility and health of your soil. By measuring the biological, chemical, and physical properties of the soil, numerous factors can be considered together that permit a more holistic assessment of nutrient deficiencies and overall soil health. Simply put, a soil test provides you with information necessary for maintaining optimal soil fertility. Soil testing is important for so many reasons: to optimize crop production, to protect the environment from contamination by runoff and leaching of excess fertilizers, to aid in the diagnosis of plant culture problems, to improve the nutritional balance of growth media, and to save growers money and time by letting them apply the exact quantity of soil amendments and treatments like fertilizers that plants need. Purchasing one or more of our Soil Health Test Kits is an investment in your future soil health; kits can save you effort, time, and most importantly resources and money!
Soil Health Test Kit
Our Soil Health Test Kits are all you need to find out if you have healthy soil to help your garden grow; help grow a vibrant green and luscious lawn; help grow healthy cannabis plants; or find out if soil conditions are working against you with a diagnostic test. You’ll discover more about your soil health and what you can do to build the quality of your soil.
The soil sample collection and shipping process is simple! Your kit arrives with one or more soil sample collection containers (sample containers vary based on the kit ordered). All you need is a clean bucket or pail and a small shovel or garden trowel. Your soil sample is sent to the laboratory for testing in the original shipping box to reduce waste. Shipping is included in the price of Soil Health Test Kits. Plus, we use carbon-neutral expedited shipping.
Whether you’re a new gardener or a seasoned professional, SoilHealth.ca helps you “dig deeper” into the health of your soil!
Why we created SoilHealth.ca
Our CEO and Founder, John Kenneth Filice, is passionate about the importance of soil!
Our mission at SoilHealth.ca is to promote a “soil-first approach” to growing plants that helps Canadians use data to inform their decisions and empowers them to build and maintain holistically healthy soil. As the name suggests, a soil-first approach proposes that before thinking about growing any type of plant, the first consideration is the health of the soil.
We believe that soil is one of our planet’s most important natural resources. Soil serves a critical function in protecting environmental health and soil health is a key determinant of growing healthier plants. Our lives are inextricably entangled with soil; it provides our food; it produces the fibers we wear; it cleanses our air while moderating our climate; and it purifies the water we need to survive. When you consider the important role that soil plays in our day-to-day lives it becomes clearer that soil is one of the major determinants of human health too.
One of the key aspects of the soil-first approach is the use of data to inform decisions and guide next steps. And that’s why we created SoilHealth.ca – to specialize in providing soil health testing services for Canadians. Using data to guide actions about growing plants can have a tremendous impact on controlling the use of resources; soil health data can help keep more money in your wallet and help fight climate change.
We pride ourselves on providing exact, quick, reliable, and understandable data about your soil health.
John has a Master’s degree from the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster University (Canada). Specifically, his passion with respect to soil is investigating the human health and soil health nexus, particularly the modeling and visualization of these interactions. It helps having a lot of progressive experience in analyzing and presenting metrics performance. It’s no surprise to anyone who knows John that he’d end up working to help the environment by helping people to improve the health of their soil!
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Connect with us
Do you have a specific question about soil testing? Get in touch at info@soilhealth.ca
We are happy to answer any of your questions.