How Do You Fix Urban Soils?

[Beaners]

On another thread I was told that most urban soils have high levels of lead and other contaminants. What are some things that you can do to make this land usable?

Our family is being presented with an opportunity right now, and we need to find the best way to use it. One thing we are considering is buying a small house in an urban/suburban area very close to employment, and paying it off within a couple years. It is possible that we could own a home, with no mortgage, in a few years, for about what we pay in rent now. This would make it possible for us to continue to save money for land, but still have something to fall back on "just in case".

I really need to be able to grow food though. I don't want to truck in loads of topsoil (or dump buckets of rabbit poop) if the contaminants are just going to leach upward into the new soil. Would I have to seal the lower soil somehow? I can't imagine a way to do it that wouldn't make drainage miserable. Am I completely limited to raised bed gardening? I like some things about raised beds, but they don't work for everything.

In case you can't tell, the ability to maintain or improve self sufficiency is kind of a deal breaker for this plan of ours. I got a lot of inspiration from the urban/small steader thread, but I don't know that all of it can be applied to where we are looking.

Kayleigh

[Mid Tn Mama]

First of all, not every property in the city has lead problems or other dumping problems.

You can have your soil checked if you are worried. What about this property has you worried about it?

I also wouldn't truck in topsoil--too expensive. Why not do lasagna gardening with what you have on hand--cardboard, grass clippings, tree clippings, leaves, etc.. I started with hard clay soil. The first year I dug holes for seedlings and did no direct seeding. Over the course of three years, I have lovely black dirt. I follow things like sweet potatoes and cole crops with lettuce--the prior crops break up the soil nicely.

You can pick up plenty of leaves curbside to make this work.

[amwitched]

There is a product called Medina Soil Activator that corrects soil problems. It helps the existing micro-organisms, that live in your soil, fix it. Check out medinaag.com for more information about their products.

Also, add lots of compost.

[sbin]

We live in a century home just outside of Cleveland, OH which is quite urban.When we moved in the soil was mostly clay with little organic material.We found out where the city tree service dumped wood chips and bring in several pickup truck loads each year to mulch the flower and garden bed.We add as much shreaded leaves as possable in the fall.The city stages leaves in the same area and you can take as muchwood chips/leaves as you want for free.Adding some nitrogen helps speed composting.
After a few years the soil has become wonderful black loam that flowers and veggies thrive in.
We have a cheap old pickup to haul materials, very important tool for cheap old urban homes and a chipper/shreader from craigslist.
Speaking of craigslist its a great resource we found several people in our area giving away composted manure.After adding several truck loads of beautiful black composted manure this spring our veggie garden is beginning to look like a raised bed unintentionally. ;o)

[Old Vet]

Lead is organic. It is a mineral that is found at many places. Lead is not the big bugaboo that people have made it out to be. I have a place called lead hill because of the lead that is found their but it is the other things that is in the soil that you need to be worried about like Tetracine(SP) it was added to gas to make up for the lead. That is worse than just plain lead. If you have doubts about the soil have it tested and see what it has in it if anything.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Go to your local Lowes and go to the garden center and get all of the torn open bags of various kinds of mulch/topsoils they have. Take it home and add it to you garden soil. I usually get 15-20 open bags for about 10-15 bucks. I go at least twice a week. I just make friends with the garden center mgr. I pick up all his broken bags which saves him the chore of figuring out where to put the stuff and he does me a favor by giving it to me cheap.

[MoGrrrl]

Is there a way you could test the soil before purchasing the house? It may be perfectly fine.

Our soil was not great - it had a lot of clay. But we add lots of compost every year and have great soil now.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by MoGrrrl

Is there a way you could test the soil before purchasing the house? It may be perfectly fine.

Our soil was not great - it had a lot of clay. But we add lots of compost every year and have great soil now.

Of course it only takes about a pint of soil to test. Just ask the owner if they would let you test it before you buy. Dry the soil then send it to most any University and have them test it.

[MariaAZ]

The University of Minnesota Ag Extension website has an excellent article on lead in soils. It says in part:

Studies have shown that lead does not readily accumulate in the fruiting parts of vegetable and fruit crops (e.g., corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, apples). Higher concentrations are more likely to be found in leafy vegetables (e.g., lettuce) and on the surface of root crops (e.g., carrots).

The article talks about how to amend soil to reduce lead absorption as well. It's a good read!

[Beaners]

Well, we drove by one place that I had really liked the photos of, and I have to admit, I am in love! The photos made the lot look a little dead and burnt out, but it is actually quite lush (a little too lush, but I doubt anyone has been maintaining it). This is an industrial area, so I will still have the soil tested, but I have hope that this could be workable.

I bookmarked the article Maria, and I will read over it in the morning. It sounds great!

Kayleigh

[fin29]

A few years ago the city of Portland, ME started mitigating some of the lead problems around aging apartment buildings by planting spinach. Obviously it wasn't for human consumption, but by planting it against the sides of the buildings, the lead concentration in the soil was reduced because of the spinach's uptake.

A thorough soil evaluation (with recommendations for amendments) will run you $50 max through your state extension service. If you end up using a private lab, you're talking maybe $150. But you should add a soil test to your real estate contract because if the area's really toxic, you can use that information when you're bargaining for the property.

[BaronsMom]

Check with your extension office. Doing a search on the web shows many of the larger urban counties are dealing with lead abatement and reclaiming properties.

A lot of it appears to be not adding amendments to the soil if they have lead contamination, but putting sod over the top. And for gardens using raised beds with new top soil or container gardens.

Ask your local extension office what they might suggest. Maybe there is even assistance/cost-share programs to help if you are in a target area. Looks like in NY - here is where you find your office http://www.cce.cornell.edu/editor/sh...Your_Community

or contact Cornell University http://www.cce.cornell.edu/

[mnn2501]

Originally Posted by Beaners

On another thread I was told that most urban soils have high levels of lead and other contaminants.

Don't believe everything you read on a message board. "Most" is a gross exageration. "Some' would be more like it. Millions of people in urban and suburban settings grow veggies with no problem whatsoever.

You certainly can have your soil tested at the local county extension office or most Universities. If a soil test turns up anything your county extension office can probably help you with what to do. Do you have any reason to believe that your land was used as a dump at one time?

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by MariaAZ

The University of Minnesota Ag Extension website has an excellent article on lead in soils. It says in part:
The article talks about how to amend soil to reduce lead absorption as well. It's a good read!

Maria, thank you for posting that link. I've worked with its author Dr. Rosen on many projects over the years.

Lead in urban soils is only a risk to children who might eat the soil. Lead in soil is not a risk to the quality or safety of vegetables grown in urban soils.

The application of biosolids (like Milorganite), compost or manures can absorb soil lead making its risk even less to children who eat soil.

[Macybaby]

When we bought our 15 year old suburban home, trucking in topsoil was the only option. The develoment was built on a reclaimed gravel pit. There was about 2" of topsoil, enough to keep the grass gowing, but under that was gravel. We took a sample in for testing, and they asked us if we had scraped it off the side of the road.

It was great if you wanted large rocks. We put in a privacy fence, and it took two hours per hole to dig down 2'. Each hole ended up being about 2' across, as the rocks were one on top of the other. Had plenty of 10-20 lb rocks for landscaping projects Sure do not miss that!





Cathy

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

Too much lead is also unsafe for adults and expectant mothers, not just children. Lead can cause brain damage. Urban soils sometimes have other chemicals dumped in them as well. Here is a a good article that explains that exposure comes not just from eating soil:

http://www.hgic.umd.edu/_media/documents/hg18.pdf

RF

[BaronsMom]

Originally Posted by Macybaby

When we bought our 15 year old suburban home, trucking in topsoil was the only option. The develoment was built on a reclaimed gravel pit. There was about 2" of topsoil, enough to keep the grass gowing, but under that was gravel. We took a sample in for testing, and they asked us if we had scraped it off the side of the road.
Cathy

Beautiful landscaping, Cathy!

[Pelenaka]

Very good read MariaAZ.
Kayleigh keep us posted I'm curious to see what the soil testing revealed and what you decided on.

~~ pelenaka ~~

[ldc]

Beaners, I used to know the Agricultural Extension Agent of Baltimore, and he was in charge of a large (urban) gardening program there for the city. They considered lead to be a problem for gardeners. But as others have noted above, the lead itself wasn't consistant, even in neighborhoods that were known to have high levels of it (discovered and tested for, due to the children's problems who lived there). I'm with some of the other posters; pls. just do a soil test! That gives you a starting point! ldc