Those "soil tests" really are the pits. I've used them and had the same experience as you. The pH indicator seems to works reasonably well while the NPK tests were less than worthless. These tests are sort of like an immediate gratification soil test. They may not work well but you get results pretty quick. You can be a little more forward thinking and patient (very hard for some like me) and send a well collected sample to your state soil testing lab. In some states these tests are free and give detailed analysis with recommended fertilizer application rates.

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.

Thanks for the responses - that's exactly what I wanted to hear! :) Compost is king. I'm still curious to know exactly what will change in my soil test, but I guess the factor of nutrient release over time will make that difficult to determine. I'll probably still test again in the fall, but at that point my plants will also have used some nutrients from the garden, so determining the specific effect of the compost will be difficult. gumby: the specific soil I tested was converted from lawn last July/August, and had a largely unsuccessful fall garden attempt grown in it. That's all. (this year I made the plot bigger.) I think my pH is the 6.1 number. I'm not too worried about the compost being more than leaves/grass/yard waste and the occasional red bull can because that's what I can see in the less finished bits, and my town is pretty small so I believe the guy in charge is telling me the truth about the components. I still might get it tested at some point, just out of curiousity, but I certainly believe its worth the price! gumby and takadi: you guys are worrying me. Is there something strange/unusual/wrong about my test results? I got it done through Peaceful Valley Farm Supply; they use a lab in California. I now realize it was a bit overly expensive, but I was ordering from them anyway. Thanks again, everyone, ~Emily Here is a link that might be useful: PVFS Soil Test

caflowerluver: I did not take offence. I merely wanted to mention that most of us today contain a large mix of genes. As far as "fooling around", I have a few in my closet in a joking manner. I have ancestors of whom I can not find a trace of a marriage record, mention in a journal, or any other indication. This doesn't prove they were not married; It only says there are no records to be found. Some of my ancestors were "on the frontier" and official accommodations were scarce. I probably have some common law ancestors as well. Some of my 200 yr old records are not readable and others have been lost in court house disasters. A number of court house records were lost during the Civil War. If a minister of the gospel performs a marriage ceremony, the couple is not "officially" married in the eyes of the law until the marriage papers have been filed at the court house. During pioneer days, the Minister might not get to the court house for 2 weeks to a month after the marriage. I have 2 mariage dates for my grandparents: one is the day of the wedding and the other is the filing date at the court house. if something happened to the Minister before he filed, the record could be lost. Relationships can get messy. I have a great grand uncle who lost his first wife and 2 children. He married again and they had several children and then she died while the last child was very young. Her sister stepped in, married the man, and they had children. In the same community, another man and wife had 4 children of their own and took in 12 orphans at various times. He adopted all the orphans so they took on his surname. That's got to be a mess in the gene pool to straighten out. Another mess: My gggrand father, after his wife died, married the sister of a brother who married his daughter. Oh my!