I went to the Center for Urban Pedagogy’s Goo Gone event the other day about the nomination of the Gowanus for Superfund status. Very well presented and attended. It did, however, put the fear into me about toxins that I might inadvertently be putting into my garden.

While my containers are all fresh new soil, I have been composting weeds and giant trees and grape offal that sprout from the actual soil between the cracks in the patio. Calls to CHEJ and a soil lab they recommended up in Boston have eased my mind a little, but they recommended testing for sure. Steven Lester at CHEJ pointed out that the fruits are most likely fine, as plants have a barrier that prevents heavy metals from being taken up from soil and deposited into their fruits, and that the larger molecules of concern (PCB’s and PAH’s, in this neighborhood) are too large to get taken up by most plants. He warned me that there are, however, some plants better at uptake than others. Thus, testing is a good idea, if only because dust and loose stuff from Gowanus could be blowing around the neighborhood.

I hope to hear from the labs on Monday. In the meantime, I will wash all the produce I eat, steer clear of the greens until I know more, and assume the best case.

Half a pound of various beans harvested. Paul has the camera, so no pictures today.
The scarlet runner beans seem to be a different variety than I’ve grown before. Rather than all purple beans, they are green flecked with little purple stripes. I am a fan. The yellow beans (no idea of variety) are long, flat, fuzzy and very sweet. Also, first squash and cucumber blossoms opened today. The spiky vine growing out of the composter identified itself with blossoms today: it’s a squash! Bees were making time with it today, so soon we will know what kind of squashlings have volunteered.