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Natural Resources Conservation Service. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/surveylist/soils/survey/state/?stateId=AZ

Osmanski, S. (2020, November 19). Experts Believe These Are the 'Solutions' to Global Warming. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.greenmatters.com/p/global-warming-solutions

Schalau, J. (2002, December 11). Backyard Gardener. Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/soilsamplingandtesting.html

Soil Test in a Jar. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2020, from https://nhm.org/sites/default/files/2019-04/soil_test_in_a_jar.pdf

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While no area in Arazona is perfect I do feel that in the end the best chance of growing a garden would most likely be in Prescot or Buckeye. I do feel that I did believe correctly that the back yard in Buckeye would have better soil in order to plant the garden. I was suprised to see that Prescot also had a strong chance. Of course both places could benifit from additiona nutrients added.

I also believe that it trutfully depends on the area you chose in Phoenix that presents the best for farming, I wonder if being at the Zoo we could have chosen another area that would have been better.

I was also suprised by Jermone I feel that they should have had better soil in the area I chose simply because Jerome is heavly lined with forest. But being on the side of a mountail I can see where it would be difficult to grow in ground. I would probably end up going to a raised bed or even a wall for vegatibles or herbs.

Sedona I also felt would not have been a great area for ground gardening. It is mainly sand and I can understand why most vegitation is catcus or desert plants. This was still fun to get soil from.

I had a blast learning about the different cities in Arizona and spent valuable time with my family. I was able to introduct my niece to sicence and how fun it is and had the chance to connect with my dad. I also learned so much about how to test the soil in my own yard. We are moving in the summer and I am excited to test the land in Kentucky where we will be living. I cant wait to see what we will grow and get the chance to learn more about Kentucky and our land.

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Based on the Soill Pyramid I was able to someway determine where each jar was at in terms of the textrue and type of soil in the jar.

Here are my results:
Buckeye: Sandy Loam
Buckeye: Sand
Sedona: Sandy Clay
Prescot: Loamy Sand
Pheonix: Loamy Sand
Jerome: Loamy Sand

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I actually managed to find an old soil servey from Buckeye that was written by Henry Knight based out of The University Arizona Experiment Station. In this servey Knight noted that the soil content is Buckeye is Mohave Sandy Loam as well as Mohave Loam and Mohave Fine Sandy Loam

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Acording to National Resource Concervation Service soil is defined as "(i) The unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the Earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants. (ii) The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the Earth that has been subjected to and shows effects of genetic and environmental factors of: climate (including water and temperature effects), and macro- and microorganisms, conditioned by relief, acting on parent material over a period of time. A product-soil differs from the material from which it is derived in many physical, chemical, biological, and morphological properties and characteristics."

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11-30-2020

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Circa 1970

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The last place we took a sample from was Jerome. I fell in love with this small mining town and expected the soil to be rich because the city is on the side of a very dense mountain filled with lots of trees.

I love this little city that it is on my list to visit the next time I go. It is sucn a cute area with winding roads that take you to the top of the mountain. Built in 1876 Jerome was once a large mining town. After the mines were closed Jerome went from being a prosprous city to a low as 50 residents.

Today Jerome is home to families, artiest, writers and historians. It is the perfect city to settle down at. As long as you enjoy living on the side of a mountain.

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11-28-2020

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After thanksgiving we went into Phoenix. We had taken Lucy to the Zoo and this gave me a chance to pick up another sample. Pheonix is very close for my dad and I thought this might give me the chance to understand a little more about the area. There are farms everywhere. Because of that I believe we would also be able to find soil that would prove why the ground was so useful for farming.

I continued with the same procidure as before. It was starting to really provide good results and I didnt want to risk changing what I was doing.

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11-27-2020

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Our next trip was to Prescot Arizona. This is soon to be my dads new home. I figured we needed to take a sample from here so that we had an good idea if he chose to put a garden in what he might need to do to fix the soil and make it better.

I unfortinatly feel that I did a diservice to this sample. I ended up leaving behind my shovel so I feel I was not able to get a good range on what is present in the area.

As before I tried to get enough that woudl fill the jar 3/4.
Then I ended up filling it with water and didnt have to shake it very much. The contents ended up mixing very well.
I also let it rest and gave it time to settle and really show what is inside.

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11-27-2020

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Going to Sedona was a blast, we had the chance to hike and see some of the different shops in the area. I loved getting the chance to enjoy the red rocks. I know that they are red because of the iron and I was pretty intrested to see what our results would show from the bit that I was able to bring home.

Getting down deep enough in Sedona was a hard task. I truthfully feel like I didnt get as deep as I should have. Based on the natural vegitation I had assumed that there would have been some really nice soil to grow something. I had hoped that my test would show that.

I did the same procedure as before in Buckeye.
I first dug down into a rural area in Sedona, this was rather difficult as the ground was very hard.
I then added about 3/4 to my mason jar. Afterwords I took my mason jar and filled it up the rest of the way with water. The collection I took from Sedona was very thick and I had to shake the jar about 10 extra times than the first sample. I noticed right away that this sample was very different from Buckeye.

During this trip I of course had my niece Lucy, dad, and his wife there to help with all that I needed.

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11-26-2020

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I also thought that it woudl also be a good idea to take a sample from the other side of my dads yard. I didnt expect the soil to be great but I had high hopes.

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11-26-2020

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First up was Buckeye Arizona. Here my dad has activly worked on his back yard to make it nice and has covered the yard with grass and orange trees. I had assumed the soil here would be very rich.
I started out with finding an area that wouldnt take to much of a hit and woudlnt have caused any issues with his grass.

The ground was pretty soft and I found getting a few scoops full into my mason jar not to complicated. I scooped up enough to fill about 3/4 of my mason jar.

From there I took it inside and filled the jar with water up to the top. I shook the jar to make sure all of it's contents were completely saturated and set it aside so it had time to rest.

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I knew I wanted to look for the best places for my dad and I also wanted to look around different areas of Arizona to see what natrual vegitation was present and what they needed to grow in.
In total we went to 5 different cities in Arizona.
Buckeye
Sedona
Prescot
Pheonix
Jerome
All of these cities hold a special place for my dad and I. We traveled aroudn to each one looking at the sites and talking about old memories. This expeience was very good for us and brought us closer than we had been in a while.

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After resuarching for a bit,  I learned from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension that I would need 1-3 tablespoons of soil, a shovel, ruler, coring tool, and a clean clear container.
I didnt have a coring tool unfortinatly but I did have all the rest. I also had the help from my niece who was staying with us during the holiday.

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I believe his best chance to grow any plant will be in his back yard. I feel this would have the right amount of soil and nutrients to produce crops.

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There are many different areas that my dad visits and I wanted to know where he would be able to grow a garden in.

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Soil testing and where a garden would grow best in Arizona.