More and more people are discovering the advantages of growing at least some of their own fruits and vegetables. Back yard gardens are increasing in popularity.
If you are rediscovering the joys in harvesting your own strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas and so forth; then you might also want to pay close attention to the benefits of cleaning that produce. And sometimes it takes more than just a quick rinse under the kitchen tap.
What was on that land that you are now using for your garden? Did the previous owner of your house use that particular piece of land for parking his car, changing the oil, or doing some general tinkering? Was that once the depository for old boards and their flaking lead based paints that were torn off a now long gone porch or shed? Before your home was built, did some now defunct manufacturer dump his waste materials on that spot? Sometimes you never know.
Even if something like that did happen, that doesn’t mean your soil is unsuitable for gardening purposes. That lead paint, for instance, may not need to constitute a horrendous worry for you. Water insoluable lead cannot be used in the cell growth of those garden plants, Hence, you are not likely to find it within that produce. However, you might find unseen pollutants clinging to exterior surfaces. So a good wash could prove most beneficial.
It could prove beneficial even if you do not have those kinds of concerns – even if you are a dedicated organic gardener, avoiding the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. Are you sure your garden has not been the beneficiary of a visit from some stray cat or dog or some other animal, which, in the process of fertilizing your soil, has also shared the eggs of parasites? You just might want to make sure that those are washed off as well, especially if that food is going to be consumed raw.
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