side-yard dreams

[kettunainen]

So I'm currently reading Food Not Lawns and am totally loving it. It has a MAJOR activist bent to it -- the author has worked with Food Not Bombs and Greenpeace, as well as lots of other non-profit orgs

Comments

[thewronghands]

I'd guerrilla it. Gardening in such a public area, you have to be prepared for the heartbreak of people not respecting your space/fucking it up... do you read "You Grow, Girl!"? But as long as you try to remain philosophical about it, it could be fun. I have a couple, er, spontaneous gardens.

Carrots are also metal hyperaccumulators.

[kettunainen]

The strip is enclosed on three of the four sides already, so we'd only need a fence on one side to make it exclusive. And it's a rectangle, with one of the narrow sides being the accessible side. So, while it'd cost $$$ to put up a fence, it's still less than it could be

[tamago23]

I've heard of steampunkers contacting their local versions of environmental protection offices, who will send people out to scan old watch parts and such for radiation. We must have something similar here, where you could call and ask what it would take to get soil tested. They may possibly send someone out for free if it's couched as being a potential health hazard. I would try contacting this agency, explaining that there's a garden plot near you that has been heavily contaminated with batteries, fluorescent tubes, etc., and while you want to undertake a cleanup project, you need to have the soil tested first. Explain that you're just a home gardener who doesn't have the financial resources to send dirt to a lab, and ask if they have any other options. :)

[thewronghands]

If the soil isn't too bad, you could try sheet-mulching over top of it to get some quick (a year to a few years) nutrients into the soil. Or maybe introduce some worms, whatever kind you have natively, to help aerate what's there if it's all compacted. Those two together have worked out really well for me... I sheet-mulched my underdeck to get actual plants in there, and am about to do it again this year. I figure after this, we'll have maybe an inch or two of real soil on top of all the sand/clay crap, and between plants and worms can hopefully begin to make serious improvements.

With carrots, check where they accumulate... if it's the roots (I think it might be), then you don't want that in your compost -- you'd just be putting those metals back in the soil.

I look forward to hearing about your gardening adventures!

[kettunainen]

ah, but it would be the city's compost, so the badness would be dispersed considerably.

mulching is a most excellent idea, as is worm introduction. thank you!

unfortunately, the more I ponder this garden notion, the more overwhelmed I become... :( getting a fence installed is key, but that would block out the majority of the little bit of sun this spot gets. *wrings hands*

if I had a superpower, it would be being able to cut through bureaucratic red tape. ugh.