How to Purify Soil?

[ransom]

Hello, I live in the Missouri Valley region in the US and as I'm sure all of you are aware, the land has been poisoned by industrial agriculture. My mother even recently recovered from breast cancer which was speculated to have been caused by pesticides in the soil and/or arsenic in our water (we drink from well water).

We've started filtering with a Burkey, but I'm wondering how we can PURIFY the soil? My mother grows a lot of organic vegetables... What would be something to experiment with that could literally remove any poisons out of the soil before planting. I've read that certain fungus or bacteria can eat up pesticides.

Would love to hear all of your thoughts' regarding this as well. There may be no answer at this time but any potential solutions should be discussed/debated in this thread. Thank you.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Hello, I live in the Missouri Valley region in the US and as I'm sure all of you are aware, the land has been poisoned by industrial agriculture. My mother even recently recovered from breast cancer which was speculated to have been caused by pesticides in the soil and/or arsenic in our water (we drink from well water).

We've started filtering with a Burkey, but I'm wondering how we can PURIFY the soil? My mother grows a lot of organic vegetables... What would be something to experiment with that could literally remove any poisons out of the soil before planting. I've read that certain fungus or bacteria can eat up pesticides.

Would love to hear all of your thoughts' regarding this as well. There may be no answer at this time but any potential solutions should be discussed/debated in this thread. Thank you.

Maybe charcoal?

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

I remember reading somewhere about birch and willow trees having a very positive effect on restoration of the land affected by industrial waste. It surely isn't an immediate solution.

 

[Diokine]

expose as much soil as possible to sunlight

or

liquid chlorophyll

 

[ransom]

I asked Ray and here is what he had to say:

"When only a single kind of contaminant is involved, sometimes certain organisms can be added to accelerate the breakdown of that material, but multiple substances are often involved. Enriching the soil with organic fertilizer can generally reduce the amount of toxins absorbed by plants. For example, when bomb tests were contaminating food with radioactive strontium, fertilizing fields with limestone could reduce the strontium content of food by dilution with stable calcium."

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Chapter 3
ABSTRACT
Soil pollution is rising rapidly due to the existence of pollutants or natural alterations in the soil. It makes
the drinking water ineffective and unusable by the human beings. The major cause of the soil contami-
nation is agricultural activities, industrial activities, and inadmissible disposal of waste in the soil. The
most common pollutants to accumulate in the soil are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides,
lead, and other heavy metals. The important technology to remediate the pollutants or contaminants
in the soil is bioremediation. The utilization of bioremediation in the contaminated soil is increasing
rapidly due to the presence of toxic pollutants. It is the most advanced technologies which make use of
organisms to deteriorate the harmful compounds in order to prevent the soil pollution. The aim of the
chapter is to describe the available bioremediation technologies and their application in removing the
pollutants exist in the soil.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Athar-Hussain-3/publication/327107850_Status_of_Electronic_Waste_Management_in_India_A_Review/links/5b8a86d7299bf1d5a7363d68/Status-of-Electronic-Waste-Management-in-India-A-Review.pdf#page=54

 

[ransom]

Maybe charcoal?

I was thinking this too. I may have to do some experimentation in the garden.

 

[supercoolguy]

Sounds like a project. All these ideas sound plausible. Charcoal, Limestone, Fertilizer, Sunlight, Chlorophyll.
Would or Could you sift out the good from the rest?

I watched a couple in Canada develop a plot of land w/o harmful bacteria. Or free of harmful organisms.
No Clue! how that's even possible on existing soil. It was in the woods on an elevated plot, away from the house.

 

[Rafe]

The best way to regenerate bad soil is to recycle the soil into ground cover plants & then recycle the ground cover plants through animals (chickens, goats, cows, sheep, worms) & then recycle the animal manure & your food scraps into compost & then put the compost back into the soil.

It’s a long-term project. And hard to do on a big scale. It takes a lot of experience & patience. Like peating. That’s what regenerative agriculture is all about.

People doing this: homesteaders, permaculturalists, anyone trying to live as independent of the grid as they can. They are all trying to make their living & land as much of a closed, sustainable system as possible & that requires healthy soil.

How to get started: you can learn the basics from some videos, & just by getting started in your Mom’s yard. If she’s gardening then she’s already doing it.

If farm animals aren’t possible then start with a worm bin.

Here’s a guy I like, but there are so many good people out there doing what you want to do:

https://youtube.com/c/davidthegood

Once you get into it you’ll see there are lots of good approaches. But, like doing RP things, just get out & start. Then go from there.

Adding calcium lime to clay soils is common & will help break up compact soil. A lot of places have that. But it’s not regenerating the soil by itself. For that you need bacterial & fungal growth. Composting, growing food, mulching the leaves & wood, all those increase biological activity.