Guest guest Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Further to my initial email about urban gardening... Living in an industrial city, I'm assuming toxins are in the soil. That is why I figured it would just be safer to raised bed garden with safe, purchased soil. Am I correct in thinking this? Or would one have their yard soil tested to determine if it it's safe or not? If I purchase the soil, then I have more control over the quality/safety of it allowing me to garden more organically. Which leads me to my next question: Is there such a thing as organic soil? or do I just purchase any old soil? Many thanks in advance, Lee Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 2:55 PM, strongmind30 <strongmind30 wrote: > Further to my initial email about urban gardening... > > Living in an industrial city, I'm assuming toxins are in the soil. > That is why I figured it would just be safer to raised bed garden with > safe, purchased soil. Am I correct in thinking this? Or would one have > their yard soil tested to determine if it it's safe or not? > > If I purchase the soil, then I have more control over the > quality/safety of it allowing me to garden more organically. raised beds will help, but most roots will penetrate far below the level of your beds, unless you make a solid bottom or raise them off the ground. Check with university extension in your state. They may be able to tell you what compounds are likely and what are harmful and should offer soil testing by mail or have links to companies that can do your testing. If you find a source of soil to buy, see if you can get test results with the soil...no telling if they are scraping it off land just like yours. > > Which leads me to my next question: Is there such a thing as organic > soil? or do I just purchase any old soil? I get compost for my raised beds from my city landfill. I know that chemically treated green waste goes into the system, but once it hits my yard it is treated as organic. I don't have a problem with that, since most, if not all, compounds will have degraded by the time they've processed through the compost cycle. Good luck and good gardening! Ellen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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