Test Your Soil For Lead Before Planting Your Garden
If your garden is located near or next to a home, barn or additional structure that was built before 1978 test your soil for lead before planting your garden. Otherwise, you might be ingesting lead through your plants or tracking lead-based soil into your home.
Remember Outdoor Lead Paint Can Be In Your Plants
The Centers for Disease Control warned that lead poisoning is still one of the most common health problems in children. If you have tested your inside paint and it turned out fine, would have done the same for your outdoor paint?
Many people forget that portion and have high concentrations of lead in their soil next to their homes. The very same place they are growing their food. Root vegetables and leafy greens would carry high concentrations of lead in the plant, due to their deep roots.
Lead Based Test Kits
There are testing kits available to test soil and or paint. They are not that expensive to have performed (Under $40.00). If you click the picture below you can purchase the kit. Which includes everything you need to send off a sample.
If your soil came back with more than 500 parts per million than your soil would be classified as hazardous by the EPA. Many gardens located next to homes with outdoor lead-based paints have tested as high as 10,000 parts per million.
For gardeners that wish to add a garden and their soil has tested high, I suggest to find a place that is as far away from roads and old painted structures. Build a lined, raised garden bed or chose to use containers.
Have Concerns but Still Don’t Want to Test Your Soil?
Use the Raised Garden Approach
a. Straw Bale Gardening
b. Recycle an Old Dresser
Take Off Shoes Before Entering House
If you have questionable soils, it is best to take off your shoes before entering your home. Keeping the soil outside where it belongs.
As always happy gardening!
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