recent happenings
Hi everyone,
I haven’t written in awhile about the project. Ari and I have been quite busy. We have been processing plant and soil samples for the last week +. Plant samples have been dried in an oven, ground up (using coffee grinder!) and sent to a lab in Utah to test for elemental composition. Soil samples (all 126) have been dried, sieved to >2mm, and now weighed into 5 and 2g samples in plastic containers. I need to take pictures of these viles because they look like they belong in a medical/hospital lab, with their red caps. Some samples of particular concern were just sent to a lab in Reno where they will test for overall elemental composition as well. In Bryn Mawr’s lab, we will be testing for plant- and human-available Pb. Hopefully we can have our results in one week!
Aside from working inside, I have also been spending time with various gardeners and community members throughout the city, whom I met through a gardener’s workshop at the Horticultural Society. I met about 30 gardeners last week at a woman’s house– all sorts of people! Gardening brings people together– both people who do it as a hobby, as well as people who use gardens as an educational tool in schools.
I spent much of today (despite the rain!) at the Munoz School in North Philly. Ari and I tested the soil from this school (alongside the parking lot) a few weeks ago. But today, this plot became a garden. What a simple, yet beautiful process. Various Puerto Ricans who live in the neighborhood came to help. One thing I re-recognized for myself is that I want to learn Spanish. I was able to communicate with mothers via their sons. But wow, what a community!! I find myself blessed to be able to show up at a garden and be fed, meet wonderful people, and laugh and play with kids– all of whom were strangers to me yesterday.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hey Cecily! sounds like you are having a lot of fun in Philly with the community gardens project. I never knew that there would be Pb in the soil that we use to grow vegetables. Is it very common in urban gardens? I also wonder out of all the community gardens you’ve visited, which ones are the most successful? Is there always a very clear-cut community that tends after them, like the one in North Philly you described with the Puerto Ricans? Keep up the good work!
July 27th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Is there a resources that will provide information about community gardens that are looking for volunteers. I’ve been trying to volunteer to participate in a community garden – but have not had any luck.
I’d be grateful for any information. Thank you!
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
This looks like interesting and potentially valuable work. In this post did you mean sieved to <2mm ? also "vials" not "viles". I am curious to see the results, as I have been curious about potential contamination in stuff growing in contaminated soils (mostly blackberries).
What will happen if you do find significant contamination either in the soil or the produce?
November 7th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
The Philly Community Gardens is a winning idea. Yay for Haverford students!