 Hello, I am Ick and today we will look at the water holding capacity of your soils. The capacity of a soil to retain water will determine what plants and trees can grow there and their growth rates, which is especially important in the hot and dry seasons and in regions where the certification is occurring. This will also help you decide on what irrigation strategies you want to adopt on your land. For this method we will need a watering can or a hose and spray nozzle, three or four trash bags, small tarps or pieces of thin sheet plastic, one sensitive scale, preferably 0.01 gram sensitive, a spade, a clean bucket and one clean ziplock bag or a container to hold a soil sample, a kitchen sieve or a screen material with two millimeter holes, a mortar and pestle or another tool to help you grind the soil, a kitchen over or toaster to be set at 105 degrees centigrade, an oven proof dish to hold the soil in the oven. Ideally, we do this test after a substantial rainfall event with clear forecast for the next three days. First, select and mark out three sample sites in the zone that you are restoring. At each sample site, free a one square meter area of soil from vegetation and soak it slowly for several hours until saturated. Then we cover with a plastic sheet and wait for 48 to 72 hours. The sheet will prevent water loss through evaporation. After the two or three days, remove the plastic sheet from each sample site. Then use a sharp spade to cut soil samples. These should be 15 centimeters deep, 5 centimeters thick and the width of the spade. Repeat this for all the sample sites. Then mix the samples together and omit any roots or stones in a bucket. Take about three to six cups of the mixed sample and put it on a pan or another high temperature container. Zero the scale, weight the soil and record its weight. Then bake the soil in an oven at 105 degrees centigrade for 24 hours until the water has evaporated. Then let it cool. Grind the soil sample and sieve it through a two millimeter mesh. Sifting out all the remaining stones and roots. We measure and record the weight of stones and roots. Then we weigh the dried soil sample and record its weight. We then weight the empty clean recipient and record its weight as well. Finally, we're able to calculate the water holding capacity in kilograms of water per kilograms of soil using the water holding capacity equation included in our datasheet. When repeating the test, make sure to use the same procedure in order to get meaningful results. A low water holding capacity could limit soil biological activity and plant growth. But usually, water holding capacity increases with increasing organic matter content. If we repeat the test throughout the restoration process, we're able to see if our restoration efforts are successful.