Materials required: ​

• An apple corer or short piece of pipe that is about 0.5 to 1.5" interior diameter (Shovel, trowel, or soil knife is acceptable but less time efficient)

• One resealable plastic bag per sample to be analyzed

• Permanent marker to label bags

• Sterilized plastic bucket

• a piece of scrap paper and writing utencil to make a map

1. Sketch a grid that breaks the total area to be sampled into 9 similarly sized areas. Label each section with an individual number from 1 to 9. Then, use a random number generator to choose 5 numbers. Those will be the 5 sections that you sample from. 

2. Take 3 soil cores from each of the 5 sections, ensuring that they are well distributed within that section. Cores must be of the top 3 inches of the soil beneath any plant matter (dead or alive) that is lying on the soil. Any deeper is superfluous as the highest concentration of microbial life is located in the uppermost soil profile. 

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3. Gently mix the 15 cores in a bucket. Since you will be taking a smaller amount out to place in a plastic bag to mail in, they need to be mixed enough to get a representative sample but not so much that the soil biology has been damaged.

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4. Fill a plastic bag 1/3 to 1/2 of the way full and then seal the bag. It is very important not expel the air from the bag as this will limit the oxygen available to the biology in the sample which may result in anaerobic conditions being formed.

 

5. All sample bags should be labeled with the name, area, date, and time collected on the *outside* using a

permanent marker or an affixed label. Please do not put any identifying information about your

sample on a piece of paper and place it inside the bag. The paper will disintegrate, become food

for microbes, and potentially change the biology of your sample.