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May 1, 2009
reality of city gardening
i just got back the results from testing the soil in our backyard in fort greene. it wasn't good news... we have very high levels of lead. we've been planning a first vegetable garden (so far we've only grown non-edible plants), so rather than planting straight into the ground, we'll need to do raised beds. any recommendations for how to seal off the dirt below the bed? does it need drainage or can we just completely seal it off and not over water? we will also have to be more careful about cleaning off after gardening, not creating dust, etc. anyone else dealt with this in their garden? i suspected we would have lead, but i'm surprised by the high levels. our garden is lush and not full of debris, so i'm curious where the lead came from. old paint run off? underground pipes?
Comments
It might have come from leaded gasoline--a lot of lead got into the atmosphere from car exhausts before it was banned.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 1, 2009 6:52 PM
We are in Bed Stuy and also have lead in the soil. It does not need to change all of your plans for vegetable gardening as the lead is only absorbed by the leaves of plants, not by fruit and seeds. Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, berries, peppers, etc. are all fine to raise in your soil. We had ours tested by Cornell and the contact from the extension office here in Brooklyn thought the high levels might be due to prior residents dumping coal ash from furnaces in the yard long ago. Like yours, our soil seems healthy otherwise.
A few other things I've heard and read are that lead only leaches downwards, so as long as your raised bed is 6 - 8 inches deep, deep enough for most leafy greens, radishes and onions, they will not pick up the lead.
Adding organic matter to the soil prevents plants from picking up the lead as it attaches to the organic matter instead.
Growing crops of spinach and other greens and then throwing away the crop will also help to draw the lead out of the soil. we plan to plant the whole yard with winter rye this fall.
The Cornell person suggested that the most effective way to reduce the level of lead is to add compost and mulch -- as much as possible every year and continue to test.
Posted by: se at May 1, 2009 6:54 PM
This is a whole new wrinkle, throws a wrench into my apocalypse gardening plans.
Posted by: mopar at May 2, 2009 12:58 AM
hi,
thanks for the comments. i appreciate the suggestions, se! i will try adding lots of compost and mulch and retesting in the years to come. that makes sense that lead leaches downward, but i hadn't thought about it. i had our soil tested at the brooklyn college, environmental sciences analytical center, and they break down the lead levels indifferent ranges. there is middle range which they say is safe to plant most vegetables, but not leafy greens. our lead level is well beyond the higher range, in which they suggest no vegetable planting at all. :(
Posted by: lc at May 2, 2009 6:41 AM
In addition, there are specific things you can plant (and then discard!!) that take up more lead than other crops. Certain types of mustard greens and sunflowers I think... here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoremediation
Posted by: vanburenproud at May 2, 2009 5:23 PM
"It might have come from leaded gasoline--a lot of lead got into the atmosphere from car exhausts before it was banned."
That's Crazy talk!
Posted by: modsquad at May 2, 2009 7:29 PM
No it's not.
Lead is a really heavy particulate, but a particulate it is.
Lead particles in leaded-gas car exhaust fell relatively quickly upon leaving a tailpipe, landed on the ground, and became lead particles in the soil. What is so crazy about that notion?
Posted by: vanburenproud at May 3, 2009 12:11 PM
How did you go about testing the soil? I've seen test kits @ home depot for PH and such but not lead. -Would love to check out our soil as we've heard there was quite a bit of "stuff" back there for years.
Posted by: egut at May 3, 2009 4:28 PM
Lead from gas exhaust was a definite threat for many years. Community gardens near roads were not allowed to grow edibles (or were enjoined from eating them.)
Posted by: Arkady at May 4, 2009 3:28 PM
Leaded gasoline is hugely responsible for lead in the soil. Here's a pretty good write up about it: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=932
Posted by: gracias at May 4, 2009 3:44 PM
Our neighbors just had their soil tested in Windsor Terrace and it came back 500 ppm for lead and cadmium. We have a 2 foot high raised bed with no barrier and are growing everything in there - and some tomatoes/strawberries in pots. Said neighbor has been growing berries and tomatoes in her ground for years, with 5 kids, and all the kids have low lead levels. I am generally a bit neurotic about chemicals and heavy metals with my kids, but I think a raised bed is enough of a precaution - and my kids play in the dirt all the time, we just wash hands after. Happy growing!
Posted by: WTbound at May 4, 2009 5:16 PM
i had the soil testing done by the Brooklyn College Environmental Sciences Analytical Center. the prices are great!
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/pub/departments/esac/
wtbound, our lead levels are 3x your neighbors, unfortunately. 500 ppm is safe to grow most veggies, except lettuces.
thanks everyone for the input!
Posted by: lc at May 4, 2009 7:18 PM
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