5 months ago
WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- Whether it be for economical or other reasons, more and more people are growing their own fruits and vegetables. But if you're not careful, your could be doing more harm than good.
Elwood Gautier loves growing vegetables in this Northwest DC community garden. " They're very fresh and tasty. In other words, they'll beat anything you can get at a supermarket or whatever as far as I'm concerned. "
Community gardens are generally safe. Either the land is owned by the city or the National Park Service. But in parts of the District earlier this decade, lead and arsenic was a big problem, and if these homeowners don't test their soil, they're taking some big chances.
While there haven't been cases of anyone being poisoned from eating contaminated home grown vegetables in the District, testing your soil is something you really should do.
Sandy Bandier, Extension Agent from the University of the District of Columbia says "You want to take a six inch sample if you have a probe. And you bag it into a little bag and send it to the soil testing lab."
Tests usually costs between 30 and 60 dollars and Sandy points out that "...it's not a lot of money to have peace of mind."
If your soil comes back positive, you have several options. Lead contamination is less serious and only affects leafy vegetables like lettuce.
"I have worked with community gardens in the city that have had their soil test come back high in lead and they constructed raised beds and brought in new soil to grow their vegetables, herbs and fruits.", says Sandy.
With arsenic contamination, the problem is a lot worse. "....you have no choice but to remediate the soil which can get quite expensive."
Food sold in farmer's markets and grocery stores has been certified by the Department of Health and contains no lead or arsenic poisoning so you don't; have to worry about any problems there. For questions about soil testing e-mail Sandy Bandier at SFarber@udc.edu or you can call her at 202-274-7166.
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