It seems that there is nothing more healthy and natural than growing your own fruits and vegetables. And yet, the spring activity much appreciated by Quebecers could hide some unpleasant surprises. In his work Gardening in the ruinsthe French essayist Bertille Darragon exposes the thousand and one ecological perils that weigh on food crops, also victims of the degradation of ecosystems.
Its environmental findings are brutal. A multiplicity of contaminants is now present in the air, water and soil of vegetable gardens. The garden, considered for many as a true oasis, outside the hubbub of the world and industrial activities, is unfortunately not sealed off from the harmful effects of pollution. Located in the heart of or near urban centers, vegetable gardens act on the contrary as a barometer of the toxicity of our planet.
The list of chemical and physical agents likely to poison our gardens, and which ultimately end up on our plates, is long, recalls the essayist. From acid deposition to pesticides, medicines, heavy metals and waste of all kinds, these are all elements that have harmful consequences on nature and the products we consume.
The author knows what she is talking about. The one who devotes herself to gardening and market gardening in the French Alps is also a botany instructor. She has also been very involved in the field for several years, denouncing a certain number of unhealthy practices carried out in France. A healthier garden must today be accompanied by a fight against industrial activities, which are major producers of the pollutants in question, she affirms.
In addition to devoting each chapter to the main contaminants that are likely to be found in vegetable gardens, the dense work is intended to be a tool for gardeners, amateurs or not, so that they can adapt to the new realities of climate change. In terms of toxicity, he gives several good tips for those who maintain a vegetable garden close to polluting companies. We will remember to avoid growing lettuce, the vegetable which concentrates the most arsenic, just like lead. Equipped with a very well-documented glossary, the book is both an essay on pollution and a practical guide. The author asks a series of questions in order to limit the damage to vegetable plants. For example: how to do without plastic? Should you try to change the pH of your soil?
The essayist also raises several issues linked to the high presence of microplastics inside the soil. Scientists have already sounded the alarm about the invasion of the world’s oceans by plastics, “but what is happening in the soil, and which more closely concerns gardens, is less publicized, more invisible, and yet perhaps just as serious,” she emphasizes.