The community garden project failed because nobody checked the soil first

I spent 6 months organizing a planting day at our local park in Portland and we put in over 100 seedlings, but after 3 weeks everything was wilting. Turned out the soil had lead levels way above safe limits from old construction debris buried underneath. Has anyone else run into a hidden contamination issue that killed their green project before it started?

4 comments

4 Comments

eric_murray2623d ago

Wow, did nobody think to test the soil before planting 100 seedlings?

ross.felix21d ago

Skipped the boring stuff and paid for it.

abby_wilson5121d ago

100 seedlings is a lot of hope to just dump into lead dirt. Did the organizer ever give a real reason why they skipped the $30 test, or did they just blame the volunteers for not bringing enough shovels or something?

robert_anderson6923d ago

Honestly that's the whole problem with a lot of community projects. People get so excited about the planting day and the volunteers that they skip the boring ground work. Tbh soil testing costs like $30 at a local extension office and takes a week max. Ngl I've seen mulch from a local dump actually kill a whole raised bed because it had herbicide residue from yard waste mixed in.