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Post by Poohbaah on Mar 7, 2023 0:42:39 GMT -6
Hello!
I live in Ohio, about an hour and a half North from the train derailment. I am concerned about my garden this year. All the air moves North so all that contamination blew our way. I am worried that all the rain we have gotten has contaminated the ground and my garden wont be safe. My chickens seem ok, but we keep them in their run and don't let them free range. Do you ladies think I should just plant my garden and forget about it or I'm wondering if there is a way to test the soil...I don't want to worry needlessly but at the same time I don't want to feed my family contaminated veggies!
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Post by eyeofthestorm on Mar 7, 2023 6:04:19 GMT -6
I cannot speak for others here, but I will share an experience. We lived in a town for a while that wanted to start up a community garden. I was all in for this. Someone in town was reluctant to participate, sharing with me that the empty lot they wanted to use had been used for years to park cars on, and that they didn't want to eat vegetables grown there. I did research, partly by speaking with an organic farmer (IF this tests for chemicals/whatever, what do we need to do to plant safely) and - I believe it was our local county - about how to test the soil. I ended up leaving all participation with the community garden because the other committee members refused to allow the soil testing, even when I volunteered to do all of the work myself. I share that story for two reasons. First, yes, there will be a way to test the soil. Second, some people will take an opposing position. I say that you should do research (so talk to experts, hit the library). What I was told (this was ten years ago) is that you have to collect multiple samples in a grid and it has to be over a minimum amount of space. Then you send the samples off to a laboratory, who sends you the results. A quick google search brought up lots of options, including having a local university do the testing (your local univ. might be very busy already because of the situation... or they might be interested to see if the toxins have spread). Now that I've shared all that, if I had the money, this is what I would do instead of planting in the ground. - have a container garden using bagged soil that I bought at a garden center. (the best containers I ever grew in were similar to these: www.instructables.com/The-Dearthbox-A-low-cost-self-watering-planter/)
- fill my normal garden space with flowering dynamic accumulators. When the boys and I volunteered at the inner city farm here, the farmer explained to me that part of the land had soil that was not testing safe to grow food in. He planted flowers that they cut and sold at the local farmer's market, explaining that they functioned as a sort of "chelation therapy" for the soil, pulling those toxins out. I would do this for a year or two and then I would (for sure) test the soil. For what it's worth, when I looked up the phrase "dynamic accumulator plants" the results covered how these plants pull out micronutrients. That's not the context the farmer was using when we talked, but I can understand how it's a similar function of the plants.
Whatever you do, I think you are smart to plan ahead to avoid worrying needlessly, as you put it.
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Post by mountainma on Mar 7, 2023 7:16:41 GMT -6
I agree with Sandra. I would feel safer getting the soil tested, and if you can't grow veggies on it, grow flowers or some other plants that will help improve the air/soil quality.
So sorry you are affected by the train derailment and resulting catastrophe! Here in WV, I'm very concerned as well because all those chemicals are leaching into our water supply.
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Post by michelle on Mar 7, 2023 8:32:00 GMT -6
Poohbah, sorry that you are dealing with this, and you are apparently not that far from me. I'm about 30 miles west of the derailment.
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Post by Poohbaah on Mar 7, 2023 21:37:24 GMT -6
Thank you! I will have to see about having the soil tested. There are some colleges around us that maybe their science departments would want to help. Michelle, my moms hometown is in Toronto on the border of Ohio and West Virginia about 30 miles south of the derailment. I'm in a suburb outside of Cleveland on the shore of lake Erie. I'm not sure how far the wind can cause the chemicals to travel but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The container garden is a fantastic idea!
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Post by michelle on Mar 8, 2023 8:23:12 GMT -6
I'm just barely north of Pittsburgh.
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Post by michelle on Mar 8, 2023 8:24:19 GMT -6
And you may be fine. If I remember correctly, the wind, and therefore the chemicals were coming to the east.
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