Most Interesting Area I Soil Mapped

Most Interesting Area I Soil Mapped

ecology soil

I worked on soil surveys in Madison, Lee, Bureau, and Putnam Counties in Illinois early in my career.  In my  7 1/2 years as an NRCS soil scientist I covered about 150,000 acres on foot looking at soils and attempting to map out the soils I was seeing according to the five factors of soil formation.  The area is part of Franklin Creek State Park near Franklin Grove Illinois.  Lots of geological formations converge near the center of the map.  The state park link above explains that there are three bedrock formations in the area.  The bedrock includes both sandstone 397F (Boone) and limestone 403F (Elizabeth).  Some soils have glacial till and bedrock influences 509D (Whalan) and 761F (Eleva).  361D (Kidder) is a soil formed from sandy loam Illinoisan age glacial till. 243A and 243B (St. Charles) are soils formed in loess underlain by old alluvium on a stream terrace the 570B is also a stream terrace soil, but contains more sand.  The area of 1776 (Comfrey) is a very poorly drained bottomland soil that is extremely wet because of a beaver dam in the creek. the 3451A (Lawson) and 8776 (Comfrey) areas are also bottomland soils, but they are not so wet that they could not be farmed.   To add to the extreme soil diversity of the area, The upper right hand of the map is 280B (Fayette), a well drained soil formed entirely in loess.  I spent a whole day near the center of the map looking at 160 acres of landscape that was very confusing at the time.  160 acres is normally 2 or 3 hours of work.

I don't remember every acre I ever mapped, but t his is one area I will never forget.  Some 25 years after the field experience I was sitting at a table having supper with NRCS State Soil Scientist Bob McLeese and Northern Illinois soils professor Mike Konen. Konen was tell McLeese about an interesting area he had been taking is students to because of the diversity of the soils.  As I listened to him describe the area, I realized that he was describing the area I had mapped many years before.  I told them about mapping it and how difficult it was to define the boundaries. 

It is also interesting that this ecological wonder is located less than a mile away from the Nachusa Grasslands, another ecological wonder.Click on the map below to enlarge. 

World Soil Day

World Soil Day

soil

December 5, 2014 is the first ever World Soil Day.  We recognize the importance of soils in our daily lives and look to maintain our soil for sustainable productivity.  Our very existence depends on soils.  Kansas State University put up summary of the importance of soil. Soil Science Society of America Encourages Readers to Know Soil, Know Life.  Dr. Walter Lowdermilk published the Conquest of the Land Through 7000 Years in 1940.  He tells us what happens when we don't take care of our soil.  Chuck Rice of KSU explains the importance of soil in this video. 

The Secret is in the Soil

The Secret is in the Soil

#compost dirt Lilies Redwoods soil Tulips

Confess yourself to heaven,
Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,
And do not spread the compost on the weeds
To make them ranker.
                                            -Hamlet

What happens to the flowers that aren’t up to snuff? What happens to all the leaves and stems that get trimmed out? They return to the earth, and get composted on an enormous level. Since we grow our stunning flowers in real soil, we need to be continually replenishing and refortifying our soil supply. What better way to do this than composting all our organic flower waste?

This isn’t like that cute composter in your backyard that makes your kitchen scraps into superb soil for your flower beds or vegetable garden; we compost over 15,000 tons of plant material annually. This operation involves dirt piles 50 feet high, dump trucks and bucket loaders. Have a look at what happens in our compost heaps.

At the beginning of the process, our bulbs are placed in crates with rich soil, packed with nutrients. The bulbs take off in our optimal growing conditions and after the set amount of weeks, the tulips, iris or lilies are harvested. Over the weeks of growing, crews pull out the imperfect stems and keep the area clear of debris. When harvest time comes, an enormous amount of green waste is generated. Using our lilies as an example, each stem is about 44-48 inches long, most get trimmed to 32, 28 or 24 inches. All the foliage below a certain point is also removed; when you are harvesting thousands of stems this equals pallets and pallets of organic waste.


Imperfect lily blooms that have been trimmed and green lily leaves.

This organic waste gets moved by forklifts.  It is combined and dumped into truck to be taken out to the compost area.  This takes some skillful forklift operating and seems to be a never ending task here on the farm.



After the flowers are picked out, a team comes in with forklifts and loads all the individual crates out of the greenhouse.  The crates are stacked on palletes, sometimes with some "late bloomers" still poking up.  These rows of crates get loaded on a flatbed truck and taken out to the compost lot.  Here they get dumped, and then the good crates are taken, washed, disinfected and used again, while the broken ones are recycled.

Late Bloomers

Here the compost stream splits. Tulip soil, old tulip bulbs and all green waste goes into one huge pile.  This combination is left to compost and after it breaks down, it is used to fortify the fields.  Usually being left to go fallow and return nutrients to the soil. 

The lily bulbs and their soil are diverted to a different pile.  The old lily bulbs and the dirt in which they grew are ground up and saved.  After this soil rests for a bit, it will be added back into our soil production.  The soil we grow our lilies in is truly something special.  It is part compost, then a recipe of redwood mulch, two types of fir tree mulch and spruce mulch. The tulip soil is similar but with a little coarse sand in the mix.

I recently spoke with Lane DeVries about this unlikely combination. He says about twenty years ago he started using this mix, and because of the beneficial microbes in the soil. Now, the lilies and tulips have a great natural resistance to diseases due to the soil.  Over the last twenty years, this has virtually eliminated the usage of fungicides to protect against root rot.

I asked Lane what his soil ratio is, hoping to create a special batch for my own garden, thinking maybe he would write out his recipe. Lane smiled deeply as he held imaginary handfuls of soil, "You know, a little of this, a little of that."

I realized this is like asking a fisherman where he caught his trophy fish.  The fishermen replies pointing to his cheek, "right here."

Standing on a compost heap, looking back on fresh soil and the hoop houses of Sun Valley

The same soil elements that grow the world's tallest trees, the Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia Sempervirens) also grow our tall, vibrant tulips and lilies.  Coincidence?  Not a chance.

“The ground's generosity takes in our compost and grows beauty! Try to be more like the ground.”
                                                                                                                             -Rumi

Please forward this email onto all the compost fanatics in your life.

-Lily