permaculture

[Claude Genest <genest@together.net>]

I'm extremely interested in phytoremediation Rick becuase there's all kinds of toxic land that can be picked up for cheap and then fixed up with plants. 
Some of the best info I found, believe it or not, is from the u.s. Army and U.S. Navy.

Here's a data base of plants : http://www.phytopet.usask.ca/

Here's some links : 
http://www.edie.net/library/Features/ENB011.html

By the way, apparently morning glory is another good lead plant.

Not sure of specifics of lead, but overall, I found that a huge amount of shit can be removed really quite quickly - like say 70% the first year, 20 % the second year...but that last 10% may take years and never be removed entirely.

However, the reason it can't be removed is that it's not "bio available" and if it's not bio available, so what ? means it's bound and not really a problem.... This is why they are going to change the laws here in Quebec and make it so that slightly toxic land can be zoned residential ( and making the purchase of said land even more interesting)

Now, this is where PC comes in: The work being done is typically scientific/reductionistic. SInce they need to quantify results, they tend to use all of this plant or that plant. But really, the best results come from a variety of plants working synergistically ( surprise!) And furthermore, some of the best plants for the purpose  are good old weeds - Nettles in particular ( especially with copper).... also, willow and poplar....

Finally, the plants themselves are actually doing only part of the work, the soil bacteria, microorganisms etc. are the real story ( surprise !)  So, the trick is to do it up PC style: Bring in lots of organic waste, swale it out, sprinkle on a bunch of rock dust, plant like hell ( buckwheat, alfafa, mustard) encourage weeds, and let her rip.... This approach wouldn't fly with the suits, but it''l heal your land....


On Friday, June 13, 2003, at 03:18 AM, Rick Valley wrote:

> > From: Claude Genest <genest@together.net>
>
> > Mustard, Sunflowers, Sesbania..
>
> So does "a few years" do it? Any idea how they pull the lead out of the
> ground?
>
> -Rick
>
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Best Regards,
Claude William Genest

www.greenmountainpermaculture.com
Green Mountain Permaculture: Solutions, Sustenance, Sustainability

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