{"id":216,"date":"2014-10-15T17:15:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T21:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fivefurrow.net\/?p=216"},"modified":"2015-10-15T00:07:34","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T04:07:34","slug":"2014-remediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivefurrow.net\/?p=216","title":{"rendered":"2014 Remediation"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s one spot in the garden beds that didn’t do as well as the others in terms of heavy metals on the soil tests. Through research, testing and various practices, I’ve been able to keep these metals out of the food we eat and out of our bodies. I am fully confident that these strategies are working. However, I’m still very interested in further reducing the issue and risk, and testing and learning along the way.<\/p>\n

Introducing:\u00a0Indian Mustard.<\/p>\n

\"Indian<\/a>
Indian Mustard seed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s been identified through environmental research to be one of the more powerful soil remediators:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/12929493<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/tio\/download\/remed\/henry.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Baby<\/a>
Baby Indian Mustard plant (right center, with serrated leaves)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phytoremediators are plants\u00a0which reduce environmental contaminants. They can do this either by breaking down complex molecules into less toxic forms, or by pulling toxins out of the soil or air and store it in their tissues for removal. It would probably take years to reduce pollutants dramatically\u00a0this way… but I have years \ud83d\ude42 Since heavy metals are elements and therefore can’t be broken down, we can try using plants which pull the metals out of the soil and dispose of them safely. It will be an ongoing project. Next year we might try sunflowers, which are also phytoremediators.<\/p>\n

\"Patch<\/a>
Patch of Indian Mustard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Generally speaking, I take the following precautions in regards to heavy metals in this part\u00a0of the garden:<\/p>\n