Soil sampling: Pla del Pouet Dalt
The garden lies on a flat top of a ridge. The fieldwork results show a unique soil profile compared to all the other gardens. This is mainly due to a whitish and greyish material starting in a depth of around 30 cm.
The total soil depth is higher than 1 meter. This is already surprising, since all other soils on a ridge are much shallower. There is an organic layer of a few cm on the ground consisting of some rosemary needles and small twigs. The A-horizon shows a depth of a little over 30 cm and a brown soil color (7.5YR 5/4). The following horizon has a depth of over 60 cm and shows a soil color that is characterized as very pale brown (10YR 8.4). Soil texture ranges from clay loam to clay.
The anomaly of the whitish and greyish material makes it impossible to classify as one of the three soil types derived from the soil maps. But the garden shows the highest numbers in pH compared to all the others. The local soil scientist concluded that the strong presence of carbonated and loamy materials generate extraordinarily poor soils, in which the high amounts of carbonates affect the pH.
Photos of the exact sample site and its context of Pla del Poet Dalt. © Chair of Being Alive, 2022.
The analytical results indicate that the soil is basic, with very high calcareous levels, not saline and with a low macronutrient content (except for potassium that is optimal). The organic matter content is very high and presents medium or low levels of micronutrientes, except for calcium that is high. As for the physical characteristics of the soil, it has a loam-silt texture.