Soil samples are free from April until December. The rest of the year from December until April, they are $4 per box. You can come and get soil sample boxes and paperwork on the front table at our Extension office at 801 S Walker St in Burgaw or from the publication holder in the hallway at the Hampstead Annex at 15060 US Highway 17 in Hampstead. It is a two story brick building across from McDonald's. You can mail the samples yourself for quicker results. Farmers growing crops or pasture need to locate a separate soil form labelled Commercial soil sample submission form and not the Homeowner form.
If you are not in a hurry for your results, you can leave them with a staff member at the Extension office or with the Soil and Water Department next door for our Regional Agronomist to take to Raleigh when he can. You cannot leave samples at the Hampstead Annex because we do not have any staff there. You must fill soil to the red line on the box or the samples will be returned. This is normally around a quart sized zip lock bag amount. You will want to do separate soil samples for different things that you want analyzed. For example, lawn, flower garden, vegetable garden, blueberries, and shrubs, would be 5 boxes that need to be submitted from those areas. You want to remove any mulch or roots from your sample and only leave soil.
To take a soil sample, collect a slice or core of soil with a trowel, shovel, or probe. You need to go four inches deep for lawns and six to eight inches deep for gardens. You will take samples from eight to ten random locations across the lawn or garden. Mix these cores together in a plastic bucket. Fill a soil box with this mixture and label it, so you know which area it came from. Fill the box up to the red line that you can see on the outside. If not, the sample will be insufficient to run through the lab. Do not tape the boxes. You will then need to put the boxes and form in another box to send to NCDA by looking at the address on the form if you are mailing samples yourself.
For most similar type soils, one sample area per box should be adequate. However, if you have a sandy area and a clay area, you may want to do 2 different samples. Our lab only tests for nutrients that your soil needs for the plants you are trying to grow. If you are concerned about contaminants or heavy metals, you will need to hire a private lab for that. Home soil testing kits are not usually accurate. Your results will be emailed to you or you can find your report online by searching NCDA find my report. For questions, please call the Horticulture Agent at 910-259-1235.
