Ready to Grow Your Soil Knowledge?
Let’s Dig In!
Here’s how it works:
For Southeast Iowa locals who need assistance with taking soil samples, select from list of services below and schedule a time that works for you. Your all done.
For those outside of the local area; collect your soil samples, select from list of services below and schedule a time that works for you. Your all done.
Our gardens are our greatest wellness tools
We are reflections of the care we take, the food we eat, and the time we commit. If we are blessed to have land to steward and soil to caretake, the health of the plants that grow in that soil reflects the care we take.
The presentation of a truly healthy plant takes time to perceive, and it’s more than the hue of green, how big it is, how fast it grows. We can learn to recognize plant health by picking up on nuanced color, structural form, reproductive vigor and uniformity, flexibility, and environmental resilience as health indicators along with taste, smell, and texture. These subtle plant health characteristics can be perceived with our senses, and we can learn to read the soil the same way.
Soil Health Services
Local and Remote Home Garden Services
In-Person Happy Garden Consultation with Soil Sampling and Soil Report Review
Local Home Gardens Only
Includes: 50 minute garden visit and soil sampling, initial soil and plant health assessments. Review of soil reports.
This service is offered to local Fairfield locations only. I will check for soil health characteristics and take up to four(4) unique soil samples for pre-determined locations in the garden. We will discuss any known soil and plant health issues and make a plan to address those. I will help package and label the samples and leave them with you to ship to the lab.
When the soil report returns we will schedule a time to review the results. I will make suggections to build soil health and support nutrient rich produce production.
The fee for this garden consultation service soil report review is $85
All soil and water test lab fees are separate and paid by client directly to the lab.
Remote Happy Garden Consultation with Soil Report Review
Home Gardens Only
Includes: If needed, we will schedule a voice call to provide clarity on the soil sampling process and disscuss any current soil and plant health issues. When the soil reports are returned we will schedule a time to review the soil reports. Use the button below to schedule a pre-consultation voice call.
This service is offered to home gardeners who want to learn about how to support soil health. I will coach you in the process of checking for soil health characteristics and how to take up to four(4) unique soil samples. We will discuss any known soil and plant health issues and make a plan to address those.
When the soil report returns we will schedule a time to review the results. I will make suggections to build soil health and support nutrient rich produce production.
The fee for this garden consultation service soil report review is $75
All soil and water test lab fees are separate and paid by client directly to the lab.
Use the button below to schedule a remote consultation. Select a date that is at least 2 weeks from when the soil samples were mailed to the lab.
In-Person Happy Garden Consultation
Local Home Gardens Only
Includes:
60 minute garden visit with initial soil and plant health assessments.
This service is offered to local Fairfield locations only. I will check for soil health characteristics. We will discuss any known soil and plant health issues and make a plan to address those.
The fee for this garden consultation service is $55 (1 hour)
Garden Check-in
This service is offered to local Fairfield locations only. We will discuss any known soil and plant health issues.
The fee for this garden consultation service is $30 (1/2 hour)
Local and Remote Farm Services
Initial Consultation for Growers
Before our consultation, I will review:
- Lab soil reports
- NRCS Web Soil Survey and historical land survey data for your location, if applicable
- Irrigation water suitability test
- Submitted intake forms
We will focus on topics of importance from the above-listed areas and the subjects of interest shared on your intake form during the consultation. We will dig into the latest awarenesses around biological nutrient cycling, ways to optimize nutrient availability, and the importance of soil structure. We will review the highlights from the previous growing seasons, and I will offer soil health and fertility management suggestions for the coming season in a follow-up email. The fee for this service starts at $75. It will cover up to four(4) unique sample ID locations run as a standard soil test, “Total Digest” for the same unique sample ID locations, and an Irrigation Water Suitability Test. This initial consultation call will generally take 1.5 hours. If additional unique sample ID locations need to be reviewed during the consultation session, please note to add those during the scheduling process.
Active Bionutrient Food Association members receive member benefit pricing.
All soil and water test lab fees are separate and paid directly to the lab.
Follow-up Consultation for Growers
Before our follow-up consultation, I will:
- Review your follow-up intake form
- If applicable, review any updated soil reports for the areas of focus, and provide that they match the previous unique sample ID locations.
- If applicable, review any irrigation water suitability tests, if updated or not reviewed in the initial consultation.
- If applicable, review any Total Digest (PT2) soil reports from the same location/property if not examined in the initial consultation.
We will focus on topics of importance from the above-listed areas and the subjects of interest shared on your intake form during the consultation. We will review highlights from the previous growing season and update the soil health plan for the next growing season. I will offer soil health and fertility management suggestions for the coming growing season in a follow-up email.
The fee for this service starts at $60
Active Bionutrient Food Association members receive member benefit pricing.
All soil and water test lab fees are separate and paid directly to the lab.
In-person soil sampling only – limited to home gardens and small farms (local only). This is not a consultation.
This service is offered to local Fairfield locations only. I will help you decide where and how many soil samples to take. I will take the samples if the soil is suitable for sampling. I will label them, fill out the sample submission worksheet or direct you in doing so. I will place the soil samples in a mailer package for shipping. You will need to finalize the packaging process. You will be responsible for supplying payment to the labs and shipping the samples to the lab.
The fee for this service starts at $40 and will include up to four(4) composite soil samples. Analysis of soil sample reports not included.
Add-Ons to Consultation
- Add – on an additional unique sampe ID location to a consultation $10 each
- Haney Soil Health Test analysis $15 each
About Faith
Faith is a microbe-loving, soil-smelling, tree planting, weed studying soil health enthusiast. Her path to becoming a soil health guide has been non-linear and full of trial and error. Her process has been: zero in on a topic of interest, study, experiment, observe, reflect, repeat.
She started developing a foundational understanding of soil health while studying soil microbiology, permaculture principles, and plant biology in college. In 2011, opportunity knocked when a local, innovative product design and manufacturing company offered her a position to develop a project farm on their land. She accepted the job and spent over a decade developing and managing the 3+ acre project farm, which grew out of a mowed field that had once been part of a traditional broad-acre corn and bean farm. She transitioned the land into a thriving perennialized, diverse polyculture system interlaced with annual fruits, vegetables, and herbs. She now operates this project farm independently and stewards it as a living laboratory. All activities are oriented toward regenerative principles, biological nutrient cycling, on-farm DIY fertility inputs, community outreach, education, and research.
She built her foundational understanding of soil and plant health by studying with many of the present-day luminaries in the fields of biological farming, regenerative agriculture, Nutrition Farming™, soil microbiology, permaculture, Korean Natural Farming, and more.
Faith holds a deep desire to support a more synergistic farming future by guiding and supporting growers to develop a reciprocal relationship with the land they manage.