Adoption of soil health management practices like cover crops, no-till, and organic soil amendment is increasing in rural agroecosystems, but less in known about whether urban farmers and gardeners are using these practices and how implementing these practices might influence their soil. To address this knowledge gap, we started the Nebraska Urban Soil Health Initiative to 1) benchmark soil health and current management practices in urban gardens throughout Nebraska, and 2) evaluate the effects of adding new soil health management practices on urban soil health and crop performance. Using a citizen-science approach, we recruited and have retained over 300 participants who collect annual soil samples, complete surveys about their practices and knowledge, and implemented an assigned soil health management practice. Soil health management practice treatment groups ranged from low (e.g., individual practices) to high management intensities (e.g., combinations of practices) and include: 1) a cover crop mixture; 2) no-till with geotextile fabric; 3) compost soil amendment; 4) biochar soil amendment; 5) cover crop mixture no-till; 6) cover crop mixture no-till compost, or 7) cover crop mixture no-till compost biochar. Prior to implementing, most participants (>70%) had positive perceptions about cover crops, no-till, and compost soil amendment, whereas >60% had no opinion or prior knowledge about biochar soil amendment. Over 50% of participants characterized their garden weed pressure as somewhat to very high and over 60% reported very low to low pesticide use, which suggests room for improvement using cover crops and a no-till weed barrier. Baseline soil P across gardens was 186 mg/kg (above a sufficiency level of 25 mg/kg in 98% of gardens) and average soil organic matter was 6.9%, which suggests a legacy of compost amendment to meet crop nitrogen needs. Biochar soil amendment (8 tons/acre) alone reduced zucchini yield by 37%, but yield loss was avoided by pairing biochar with compost and the weed barrier. Initial changes in soil health among participant gardens following implementation of new practices in year one will be analyzed along with year two sweet corn crop response.
