GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

28-03-2003, 06:32 PM

writes:
hello,
i've just begun a vegetable garden with my cousin on my aunt and
uncle's property. the spot we are planting is right next to a burn
pile. many of the ashes of burnt garbage have been dumped on the
area. while i was digging in the ground i found pieced of charred
plastic and even a battery at on point. i am concerned that this is
not health to be growing in? does any one have advice for me?

happy gardening,
margie

Margie,

I feel strongly enough about this that after buying my house and
discovering the previous owner had burned trash in a corner of the back
yard, I had the soil dug out there, hauled out, and have slowly replaced
it. While most people wouldn't have the resources to do that, making it
impractical, the suggestions offered here of raised beds seems the most
realistic solution. With a raised bed, I'd go one step farther and lay
some woven geotextile road fabric over the existing soil before starting
the raised beds. The purpose of that would be to prevent mixing of the
soils. It is used in road construction to keep the gravel base from
mixing with the soil underneath to provide a stable foundation for paving.
The woven is definitely better, IMO, than the non-woven; I perceive it as
being more permanent and not as likely to leach bad stuff into the
undersoil. Either will allow water to pass through but will keep the
layer below from mixing with the layer above. And, no, plastic, even
heavy plastic, will not do the same thing because it is not designed for
that use and is not permanent and "breaks up" (and is a real pain to clean
up after the fact while the fabric will always remain in one piece).

I was lucky enough to work for a site contractor and got mine from one of
his suppliers. You might be able to get a scrap from a contractor; it's
worth a try (It comes in rolls of 10-ft width and wider). I also use it to
haul debris to the dump, lay it in the pickup bed and arrange it on the
bed and over the cab so, when the truck is loaded, it will cover the load
when folded back over the bed. Then a couple of ropes across the top and
it's completely covered and secure. At the dump, we simply pull the entire
thing off the truck, lift back the top section and pull it out, fold the
fabric and drive away while everyone else is pulling, shoveling and
throwing their debris out of their trucks. Interestingly, I've noticed
this past year (after doing that for two years previously), that many
other people have purchased tarps and are doing the same thing. For
heavier loads, we also lay heavy ropes under the fabric (to allow them
also to go over the finished load) before we load so they can be attached
to one of the concrete pillars there and just drive forward and let the
truck do the work.

Glenna