Soil Types and Community Gardens

12 Orders of Soil Taxonomy
(links containing maps)

There are 12 orders of soil taxonomy:

• Gelisols
• Histosols
• Spodosols
• Andisols
• Oxisols
• Vertisols
• Aridisols
• Ultisols
• Mollisols
• Alfisols
• Inceptisols
• Entisols

Ultisols
Ultisols are soils found mainly in the southeastern United States, lower west Africa, and south-central Asia.  They are low in nutrients because they are so highly weathered.  Often, ultisols are red in color because of the presence of iron oxides.  The clay-enriched subsoil acts as a storehouse of water for plants.  These soils are found in humid climates and show a dominance of iron and aluminum oxides.

Community Gardens
Community gardens are an important part of many towns and cities.  In a world where urban landscapes dominate, many people have begun creating green-spaces with the hopes of growing fruits, vegetables, and an area where people can enjoy nature.
Macon Roots is a good example of a community garden. Their mission statement:
Macon Roots promotes a diverse, sustainable, and local food system for Middle Georgia.  We promote a sustainable food system in Macon and Middle Georgia by celebrating the local food cultures, supporting food and garden education programs, creating networking opportunities in the local food system, and increasing availability of locally grown food for all Middle Georgians.

In our lab on 9/26, we examined different types of soils.  We used a sieve to sort through all of the textures.  We also added water to the dirt and decided that it was a loamy sand. We determined this by using the following key: