What we learned!

From this project we learned a great deal about the differences between Chehalis, Woodburn, and Bashaw soil. We learned that Chehalis is much sandier than the other soils yet capable of growing melons and pumpkins. We learned that the Organic Soils Club meets Sunday morning. We learned that Bashaw is the most clay like soil, which is sensible considering we collected it near a creek, and we learned that Woodburn is more silty and lies within the other two soil's sand and clay ranges. We learned how soil is meant to be collected using soil coring tubes, a mallet, and wrapping it neatly in order to preserve all the data within the volume it was collected in. We also learned that this is how soil samples are collected for the lab when we learn about soil density. Later our TA dried the samples that we collected. This dried soil could be used in soil research and bulk density calculations. At the end of this lab we were taught texturing, we all successfully produced a ribbon of soil using our thumb. We learned how to feel for the grittiness more prevalent in Chehalis than the others, by putting small amounts of soil in our palm and using water and our finger to feel the texture.