Soil check

[manjety.livejournal.com]

Hi everybody!

Do you know how can I check the soil on my backyard for chemicals and whatever bad could there be?
Are the self check kits trustful? What would you recommend?

Comments

Maybe.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Fruits should be ok; possibly greens. I would skip root vegetables.

Here's what UMass says:

http://www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest/lead1.htm

1. Locate gardens away from old painted structures and heavily travelled roads.

2. Give planting preferences to fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, peas, sunflowers, corn, etc.).

3. Incorporate organic materials such as finished compost, humus, and peat moss.

4. Lime soil as recommended by soil test (pH 6.5 minimizes lead availability).

5. Discard old and outer leaves before eating leafy vegetables. Peel root crops. Wash all produce.

6. Keep dust to a minimum by maintaining a mulched and/or moist soil surface .

Re: Maybe.

[manjety.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the link and all the details!