August 19, 2022

At Vitalize Seed, we often preach about nutrient cycling. As we go down this rabbit hole, it is very easy for folks to assume that if N fixing is a good thing; more must be better! This is where we can get into trouble. Nitrogen fixation occurs through legumes and the bacteria (rhizobacteria) in the […]

We had many people contact us with questions about soil testing, PH reading, etc. One of the most common questions that come up is “I tested my PH, it’s good! However, my crop hasn’t been successful, why?” Although charts like the above have been published and used all over the wildlife to garden industry, they

I took tissue samples of Carbon Load in a 3×3 square in a HEAVILY browsed plot (planted last fall, taken this spring). The timing for sampling was not ideal for getting nutrient readings, specifically nitrogen. A few reasons for this:It was early in May and many of the crops were still fairly young in their

One of the important principles of soil health is “keeping the soil covered”. You might hear this said a few different ways, such as “armor the soil”, “constant thatch”, etc. All in all, these are different variations of saying the same thing, and one of the big driving factors for no-till growing methods. Keeping the

One of the keys to understanding soils and nutrient cycling is understanding what gives structure to the soil. Often, we see CEC referenced on our soil samples results but the grower might be unsure of how to apply that information. We also might hear the words aggregates, base saturation, sandy, tight, clay, loam, etc. to

One of the 6th principles of soil health revolves around integrating livestock. I’d argue this gets most often overlooked as most don’t have livestock to graze. What if we do have whitetails – can we make this work? Often it comes down to grazing pressure. Various studies show photosynthesis stops when fields are browsed past

One of my favorite things to do is pull soil samples and send them to Ward Labs for analysis. I have been blessed to manage the same farm for over a decade. The fields, and results – although improving – are far from surprising. This year was different, this year I got a chance to

7th soil health principle? My vote is – Nutrient Cycling! We often hear the term “build soil” – I am guilty of using it far too often! However, when it comes to a garden, AG, or food-plotting situation it is not as much about “building soil” with a singular mix or planting, as it is

Soil chemistry can be overwhelming and complicated. This does not dilute the importance of our need to understand as much of it as possible if we want to grasp what is happening in our fields. If you are following the blog posts, you see my weekly attempt to explain, in detail, the soil structure and

When we started Vitalize Seed, we set out to test and quantify our system and results. I knew the science behind the system and I have watched the results with my own eyes on my farm for several years. However, we didn’t think that was enough for our customers. We felt it was necessary to