Comments on: The hidden costs of Michelle Obama’s organic vegetable garden

By: dilinger

dilinger — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:56:27 +0000

$2k for a raised bed? Even $500 is a lot. We built 4'x9'x1' raised beds out of brick for about $30 each (most of the cost was transportation). You just have to be willing to wait for materials (from craigslist/freecycle/friends getting rid of stuff) and be willing to do the manual labor yourself.

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By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:12:17 +0000

OK, I am confused. I built raised beds in my backyard, and spent around $40.00. The second year I expanded, replaced the origional beds with a completely contained system for an additional $30.00. Now, with the cost of seeds and yes I overspent, that increased by $60.00.

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By: Pixiedyke

Pixiedyke — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:37:35 +0000

Yes, but $9 and $200 is quite the leap. Saying "have your soil tested" and "'Ware the urban garden for you will fall into a pit of money and die" are two very different things. I built 2 raised beds, both 8'x3', including edging (freecycled 2x4 and cement blocks), seeds, compost because mine isn't ready yet, AND new garden tools for $60. The tools and beds will last for years, I'll get freecycled and bartered seeds again next year, when my outlay will be nil. Anyway, thank you for bringing the danger to my attention. I argue with the tone of your article, that gardening isn't worth it, rather than the substance of your argument, that lead poisoning is bad and should be prevented.

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By: S

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:15:17 +0000

But Nina, remember that 10% figure is based on samples from people who were suspicious enough about what's in their yards to even send a sample for testing. It's definitely *not* a representative cross-section of suburban or rural yards. Dorchester and Roxbury are inner city Boston; it's not surprising those figures are so high, but again, not representative of what suburban gardeners would find.

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By: Nina

Nina — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:09:15 +0000

Tracie: Smart idea! Pixiedyke: The Boston Globe article (linked above and again here) reports on some of the research: Although soil around homes can contain everything from arsenic to motor oil, lead is one of the most common...

The US Environmental Protection Agency considers garden soil contaminated if it has 400 parts lead per million parts of soil. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Lab, which charges $9 a sample, normally receives about 10,000 soil sample requests a year for soil to be tested for a suite of contaminants, including lead. This year, the lab is on track to get about 16,000. Lab director Steve Bodine said he does not know exactly why people are sending in more soil samples, but believes it is at least in part because of an increased interest in vegetable gardening. Typically, about 10 percent of the homes tested show unsafe levels of lead. The Food Project, a local nonprofit that helps people create lead-safe backyard gardens, has tested more than 125 home plots in Dorchester and Roxbury in recent years, and found 83 percent of them contaminated with lead - 1,000 parts per million on average. The nonprofit now builds raised beds with clean soil for backyard gardeners.

With odds anywhere between 10 and 83% - it's worth the money for me personally to take the precaution.

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By: Pixiedyke

Pixiedyke — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:49:57 +0000

I have to ask if this article was fully researched. What percentage of lead poisonings come from ground contamination? How can one obtain lead testing, perhaps the local extension agent? Is this really a problem? I live in a semi-urban environment in a small southern city, raise my own vegetables, eat very healthily. How are you spending that much? 4 hay bales will grow 16 tomato plants, freecycle will get you all kinds of seeds and planters. Check Mother Earth News, and any number of Urban Homesteading blogs for advice about every crop under the sun. There's no sense scaring people without facts to back yourself up.

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By: Tracie

Tracie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:57:41 +0000

My partner and I built our raised beds from wood we salvaged when we tore down our decaying deck (we pulled out the better boards and saved them). We already had all of the tools and most of the hardware- our only purchases were gopher wire to the line bottoms and the soil to fill the boxes.

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By: Nina

Nina — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:44:44 +0000

Rachel: Thanks for the links! Those are great! Meredith: I'm glad I wasn't the only one that caught the $200 amount. I think if the White House is going to gush about the low costs, they need to include the entire amount... and a raised bed is a must if you're going to do some urban gardening. Renee: I think it's sweet that you garden with your father-in-law. The family that grow vegetables together (even using cereal boxes and egg cartons) eats well together.

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By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:50:16 +0000

OMG my idea of a raised bed is a bunch of cereal boxes, old vegetables and juice scraps and egg cartons on a dirt pile. If I had $200 for garden supplies my father-in-law and i would have a field day with the Gurneys catalog.

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By: Meredith from Merchant Ships

Meredith from Merchant Ships — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:24:41 +0000

I raised an eyebrow at that $200 figure myself. I've been comparing costs all month for my raised beds, and trying to weigh the fruit of all that work against a sub-optimal sun exposure in my back yard. Now I'm off to check out those links--thanks!

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