Got Dirt?  Get it Tested.

If you’ve got dirt, we have a way to make it more productive while protecting our shared environment. Candlewood’s annual Soil Testing event just began and runs through April 26th, enabling residents to draw and package soil samples from their property at their convenience and mail them directly to the CT Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven for testing and reporting back. Over the past 16 years over 1,250 residents of the Candlewood Watershed have availed themselves of this opportunity to discover how to customize their fertilizer applications to best benefit their properties while protecting our Lake.

This Soil Testing event is built on a simple premise: understand your soil’s fertility when considering whether to fertilize … to avoid unnecessary, excessive, or inappropriate nutrient additions which could harm your plants and place our lakes, ponds and streams at risk. Excess nutrients abet the growth of algae, milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants if allowed to wash off into our waterways. Given the topography around Candlewood Lake in particular – and with Ball Pond Brook and Sawmill Brook also serving as sluiceways, this is a real and ongoing danger. Soil Testing can reduce these risks by fostering smart fertilizing practices based on proven science.

The event’s format has been modified to again ensure it is both convenient and covid-safe by limiting personal interaction and hand delivery of samples to a local site. Participants are requested to download and print Sampling Instructions now posted on the CLA website, and then proceed to draw, package and post their soil samples to the Soil Test Lab. The website -- candlewoodlakeauthority.org/news -- may be accessed and soil samples drawn at any time between now and April 26th to receive priority handling.

As described in the Sampling Instructions and informative Q&As posted online, Soil Testing simply involves scooping soil samples from representative portions of your lawn and/or garden, inserting them into quart-size, zip-lock or similar plastic bags, mailing them to the Lab, and then sitting back to receive your test results by mail from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station.

Fertilizing tips and a discount coupon – to be redeemed at one of our garden center sponsors (Dom’s Garden Center in Danbury, and Scott’s Nursery & Landscaping of New Milford) – will be included with your return report and can be applied once you decide how best to proceed. It’s a smart deal particularly for those concerned about their property’s health, that of their neighbors, and the wellbeing of our shared environment, notably including Candlewood Lake. So please draw and mail your samples by April 26th for expedited processing and receipt of your results and recommendations before Spring planting season.

This year’s event is sponsored by the Candlewood Watershed Initiative, Candlewood Lake Authority, and Friends of Ball Pond in collaboration with the CT Agricultural Experiment Station – bound together with a common commitment to protect our vital Watershed resources. Given that Earth Day on April 22 is to be celebrated during Soil Testing days to raise awareness of the need to protect and conserve our global resources, the timing and theme of Soil Testing coincide nicely. Please plan to participate in both events for your property’s, your neighbors’ and our Lake’s sake.