Hi Robin, I can't answer specifically on the geotextile issue. However: 1. Yes, the best option would be to use shallow rooting soils and make sure they are adequately irrigated- contaminants can move upward in soils due to osmotic/ capillary forces and evaporation. 2. If you have an idea as to what the contamination might be, have multiple soil samples from varying depths tested for said contaminants. Certain tests, e.g., lead, can easily be done by commercial or university soil labs.
You may also want to do a search to see if anyone is conducting a study into community/ urban garden soil quality and contamination. I would not be surprised if multiple studies are being done. Best regards, Guy Serbin On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 5:59 PM, Robin Mitchell <[email protected] > wrote: > A;l -- > > We are in the process of installing some raised beds for a community garden > project on a site which "potentially" has soil toxicity problems, although > we are not sure, and we don't have the funds to test. > > So just to be on the safe side, we are doing raised beds and putting in > high quality soil for growing vegetables. > > It has come up that we should / could line the beds with a "geotextile" > cloth that will prevent the vegetable roots from getting into the native > soil. > > I looked at a geotextile cloth carried by a local erosion control company, > but it was embedded with some sort of petroleum based product, which seemed > completely counter to having a nice organic vegetable garden. And in > general it seems like these "cloths" are made from pretty nasty materials > that will eventually end up either in the soil or in a landfill somewhere. > > So I am thinking we don't want to use them, but thought I would see if any > other community gardens had any experience with them before dismissing the > idea. > > Now I am thinking that we will make sure to plant only plants with > relatively shallow roots (this was a recommendation I read somewhere) that > will not go deeper than about 1.5 feet (our beds are 2 feet deep). Any > comments about that as a strategy ? > > Thanks for your input ! > > Robin > -- > Robin Mitchell > El Cerrito Community Garden Network > Email: [email protected] > Web: https://www.sites.google.com/site/elcerritocommunitygarden/ > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20130327/d912ed1a/attachment.html > > > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to > find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20130403/89d0b81f/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
