Working in a Coal Mine

I don’t know much about dirt. I passed Geology 101 with flying colors, but don’t recall a bit of it. I do know that my thick, pasty, cheesy clay is not the best for plant growth.

As I’ve begun to double-dig my new rose bed, I’ve found that the soil under the back lawn is a bit different than the front bed gumbo. There is no topsoil to speak of. Instead, the top layer is a lighter version of the front bed clay. Perhaps the years of supporting a lawn have tempered it. Beneath this 8-inch orange layer is a brown layer. This is mostly clay, with chunks of coal and terracotta. The next layer is a repeat of the first.

Before I moved to Ohio, I assumed that the burning of coal for energy was defunct in the U.S. I thought we had all moved on to cleaner energy sources like running water, wind, sun, and nuclear fuel. (Although whether nuclear plants are cleaner than coal is a subject of debate.) I was a bit dismayed to learn that our local electricity comes from a coal-burning plant. Perhaps we are not out of the dark ages yet.

We don’t just burn coal here; we mine it. The Powhatan No. 6 Mine in Alledonia, Ohio is listed among the major U.S. Coal Mines. From what little I understand of coal extraction in Ohio, the coal usually exists as bands of rock about three feet thick. This leaves me a little puzzled by my clay layer with coal chunks, not to mention the bright orange pieces of what look like soft terracotta.

Ignorant geologic ramblings aside, I wonder how my plants will do in this odd soil. From my internet gleanings, I gather that coal is acidic, but I could find nothing else on cultivating in a coal mine. I’m seriously considering testing the soil before planting the roses to determine what sort of amendments (if any) I should add to alter the pH. If the soil is completely untenable, perhaps I could sort out the coal and burn it to offset our horrendous winter utilities bill.