You're pH of 7.6 really isn't too bad for most vegetables but a downward adjustment would increase nutrient availability and, most likely, yield. I would add sulfur prior to the next cropping cycle. I would do about 15 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. tilled to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. That will adjust your pH downward over time and it will happen pretty dang slowly. Remember that lime buffers against that change and since you have a lot of it, you're soil is strongly buffered. Clay is another thing that will buffer against pH changes and if you have a clay soil, that will also work against your downward pH adjustment. Another test next year to see where you're at would be in order. For nitrogen, as mentioned above, blood meal would be a good choice. 10 to 15 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. tilled to the same depth should be about right for new plants. If you're looking for one material that that will provide nitrogen while acidifying, blood meal will do virtually nothing, particularly considering your buffering capacity. You would have to move to synthetics to do what you have in mind. Two options would be ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) and sulfur coated urea, which is usually around (40-0-0). Ammonium sulfate = fast release, sulfur coated urea = slow release. Good rates would be 7 lbs. and 5 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., respectively. Both of those would also give your sulfur level a little boost as well. But be aware that the pH change would rely on regular re-application of those acidifying fertilizers over a very loooooong time (again, buffer). The sulfur really would be a better route for you. On a side note, as your instincts have already told you, BER is not always due to low calcium in the soil. Un-even watering (too wet, followed by too dry, repeat) is usually what leads to the problem. Yes, it's a calcium deficiency in the tissue but variances in water availability to the plant plays a major role in the uptake of that nutrient.

Dschall- In answer to your questions-- Compost is a free input. We make it by hand cutting the rice grass and mixing it with dried rice straw and vegetable kitchen waste. No manure. I was referring to suggestions that involved spending money when I said we had no money for inputs. I apologize if that was unclear. We have a solar panel, sugar, and an aquarium pump. If we applied the finished compost to our 4 acres it would provide almost zero improvement in pH and be washed out during rainy season. Further, the hottest month of the year here is April and we keep the compost tea in the shade, so I think it is probably aerating sufficiently. We teach Soil Science, English, and Systems of Democracy in the classroom 6 hours a day, five days a week. This week in Soil Science we taught the nitrogen cycle and how to mix inputs into compost tea differently to get a finished product that is bacterial or fungal, and which plants to which to apply which type of tea. Scrap wood is plentiful around here, especially bamboo. We do not have a shredder so it is difficult to compost or otherwise grind wood products, however, burning for ash would make the wood more easily applied. I will answer each of your questions and maybe you can explain their relevance to my initial inquiry. How many acres do you have access to? 4 How many acres are in rice paddies? a little over 3 What crops do you grow in the non-rice season? Chinese cabbage, bitter gourd, chiles, yard long bean, many asian eggplants-- however, if we cannot raise the pH signifigantly we will probably switch to crops that grow better in low pH. Does grass (not just bamboo) grow in the area? rice grass Is there anything green growing in the ditches? No, they are waterways. Are there wild or farm animals in the area? If so, what are they? Ducks Was there ever a forest or grassland in the area? Dunno. Maybe 1000 years ago? How many people are being supported by the land? 20 Do they get food from anywhere else? The goal is to be self sufficient. The low pH of the soil last year provided a smaller than necessary veg harvest and we had to raise $$ to buy food that was our intent to produce. Thus this inquiry for answers. Are they vegetarians? They eat whatever is put in front of them. If veg is all we have that's all they eat. They eat duck and duck eggs fairly regularly, as well as snakehead fish and snails that we net from the ditches. That soil test was not particularly good. Make a note for your journal to get a better test next time. --Soil test was free and is the standard test provided by Chiang Mai University. They won't do another free test for 5 years. We were lucky to get that one, as soil testing paid for by the Thai government provided free to Burmese refugees has a complicated political element to it. When these folks return to Burma, many will not have access to electricity to power a pump, IPM strategies must be developed to address their twin pests of monkeys and parrots, and they will NEVER have access to the results of a soil test. So when I say we are teaching organic farming it is in much the same vein that Hawkeye Pierce would teach surgery to a Korean med student, if you get my drift. Who is Buzz Killington? I've been working in the jungle too long to keep up with pop culture. Lazygardens, Nandina-- azolla?? Cool. we have a small pond with water hyacinth which I chop and use in a basket layered with rice straw to germinate mushroom spores. I'll look into azolla. Will the ducks eat it?

You had posted the five home tests awhile back, and I did those. One of those was worms. The news isn't good, although they aren't non existent. Sadly, when I was digging the soil for my testing, I think I came across a total of four worms. I only had to actually pick one out of the buckets of collected soil. I dug several shovel fulls out, then did a slice, per each test. So about 15 or so digs...I think four worms. My compost bin is right next to the veg garden, and in early March, I planted my lettuce/spinach/greens right next to it (because it gives shade). As I worked that little patch of soil with my fork, that soil was LOADED with worms. Either they were enjoying some goodies that were leeching out of the bin, or the bin was full and they were going back and forth. I remember posting about another one of the home tests, and that was smell...my soil had NO smell, good or bad. The other tests were okay, the tilth and the drainage.

@becky: Good point! I should just boilerplate a disclaimer up top. In some cases, I'm slamming the grass with N. In others, nothing... >>Because the soil was so hard; I thought it may be a heavy clay based soil. So I had the irrigation system programmed to water the lawn every third day applying a half inch of water at a time to eliminate run-off. (So much for what I know!! ) Is the half inch at a time schedule okay? Or do you think the lawn may require more than 1" of water per week? If so; what would you suggest as a watering schedule? I folded all this together. :-) Observation will show you what's required; during cooler weather, like spring and fall, very little watering may be required, or even none at all. I haven't used the sprinklers since September even though rainfall's been a bit low. Half an inch on very sandy soil is generally a good place to start, and figure you may need it twice a week in hot weather. Weekly in pleasant summer weather. I always play it by ear and water when my grass starts to wilt--which also sends the signal to the grass that more root mass might be a good idea. >>Based on the soil test results do you think my soil problem can be corrected On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being very bad, and 10 be very good. Where on the scale would you put my soil? All soils can be corrected and yours is certainly no exception to that. Mine started out more than ten times as acidic, with essentially no calcium, modest magnesium, and very low potassium. Not to mention a nearly complete lack of every other resource. These days, it can grow anything I throw into the soil (as long as the plant is compatible with my climate and the sunlight it gets, of course). The problem isn't getting plants to grow, it's getting them to stop taking over! There was a visible battle front between the ageratum and zinnia this year. Overall, I'd give your soil about a 5 at the present instant...it's almost exactly what I'd expect for your locale, without modifications. That can easily be turned up to the 7 to 9 range. 10 is possible but would take years of work.