Soil remediation?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by Dri, Feb 6, 2020.

  1. Dri

    Dri New Member

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    Location:
    Port Coquitlam
    Our vegetable garden was flooded by a storm. There is obvious oil and gasoline and who knows what else from the road and creek that got washed into it. What, if anything, can I plant this year? I don't think I can expect anything to be edible, but is there anything I can plant to make it not be a depressing empty garden of weeds that will make me sad all year that will be good for the soil? At what point is it safe to plant vegetables again? It's my understanding that sunflowers help to remediate the soil, but I don't know what kind of contamination they help with.
     
  2. Sulev

    Sulev Contributor

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    Hardly there was large oil and gasoline spill related with the flooding.
    I suppose, that if there was no sewage spill, then these flood waters were pretty safe.
    I would not change my vegetable growing habits because of flooding, unless there is a high risk of bacterial pollution (ie. sewage spill). That case I would avoid growing lettuce, spinach, garden cress, chicory, arugula, basil, mache and other fast growing leaf vegetables, also radishes.
    If you still think for some reason, that the soil is too polluted for growing edible crops, then I would tried legumes for improving the soil (peas, beans, broad beans, soybean, chickpea etc).
     
  3. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    Move! In our climate we have enough problem growing without man made obstacles. IMO
     
  4. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    If moving is out of the question, could you build raised beds? To be on the very safe side, you could put a plastic sheet barrier under the 12- to 24-inches of soil in the beds. Not knowing what was in the water that flooded your garden makes it very hard to have confidence that the food you grow in it is not contaminated.

    Another alternative may be have the soil tested by an accredited lab who can guide you on ways to rehabilitate the land . . . trouble is, flooding could and probably will happen again.
     

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