With spring, the Soil Kitchen gets cooking

For many people, spring means planting season. And what’s the single most important element of successful gardening? Healthy soil, of course! The city of Austin has all sorts of resources to help home gardeners, and one of the coolest is the Austin Soil Kitchen, which offers free soil testing to determine whether there is any harmful stuff in your soil or if your soil needs amending so it can nurture the plants you’re cultivating. Just bring a sample of your dirt – ahem, soil – to the kitchen and it will be tested for nutrients and screened for heavy metals by representatives from the city’s Brownfields Office, which runs the Soil Kitchen. Bring soil from your backyard, neighborhood school or community garden. Visit the Soil Kitchen at the East Austin Garden Fair at Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center, 2608 Gonzales St., on Saturday, April 13, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 14, from 9 a.m. to noon. Learn how to collect a soil sample on the Soil Kitchen page. For more info about gardening in Central Texas, visit the city’s Grow Green page or Travis County Master Gardeners.