Hello Gary,

Michigan State University Extension recommends purchasing a Home Lawn & Garden Soil Test Self-Mailer kit from the MSU Extension Bookstore here: https://homesoiltest.msu.edu/ or from your location MSU Extension office depending on where you live. The kit will include a bag, instructions on how to sample the soil from your raised beds, and postage. Since strawberries and summer vegetables require different nutrients, I would purchase two mailer sample kits, one for the summer vegetable beds and the other for the strawberry raised bed.

You will collect 10 sub-samples from about 10 inches deep with a clean trowel or spade in zigzag fashion, for each mailer kit. You will mix the core samples inside a clean bucket for one mailer for the summer vegetables and then use another clean bucket and clean trowel for the other mailer kit for the strawberry raised bed.

You must allow each bucket of soil to airdry out overnight without heat. Once dry, then send in a cup of the resulting soil from each bucket inside the mailer box, making sure to note which will be for summer vegetables and which for strawberries.

Make sure to send in your sample early at the beginning of the week and not during a holiday to avoid the sample from sitting for long periods of time, when the soil testing lab is closed (on weekends or holidays). Once you receive your lab recommendations, ensure you follow the labels on the fertilizer products they recommend since they are the law.

Thank you for your question. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Lisa P

MSU Extension Advanced Master Gardener