Chem-Lawn & growing edible foods

I've been trying to get an Internet answer for this, and can't. We moved into our house 2 years ago, and the previous owner had her lawns done by a similar company (can't remember the name, so I could ask them). They last did the treatment about April/May of 2005. Is it safe to grow vegetables, herbs, etc. in this soil? (We haven't used the service ourselves.)

Thanks!

MargeCat

What have you put on the earth since then???

If nothing then go ahead ... your not organic yet but should be okay

If you're really concerned you can replace soil in the gardens with sterile top soil and soil from clean sources, or even pot grow some stuff like the herbs.

Parts of our yard was sprayed a few years ago for sand burrs and I still won't collect edible weeds (for my turtles) from anywhere near the sprayed areas. Of course, I'm overly protective of my babies too.

You should be able to talk to the Chem-Lawn people directly and get an answer of some kind... but I think the best idea is to replace the soil with some that's intended for edible crops. You might use the "raised bed" method, building it up a foot or two above ground level. That will keep any residual lawn chemicals, or any that you use in the future, away from your garden... provides better drainage, too.

Thank you all for the responses!

We haven't grown anything (edible) in the lawn since the last time she had it done, about April/May 2005. What little edibles I've grown, were grown in pots on the deck. I planned to create raised beds, and use store-bought soil to fill them. For some reason, I've been itching to grow a garden this year--maybe it's the late snow, and three weeks without heat earlier in the year!

I'm glad I was home when the lawn guy came around--apparently, she forgot to cancel the services (we moved in that Feb.). And what a joke it was--she paid to have some guy with a seed spreader thingy spend 5 minutes in the (admittedly small) backyard--he didn't even do the front or sides! And the grass has always looked crappy anyway. What amazes me is, she's a vet, and let her dogs out there (I see evidence of where they pottied, and also where they had trampled down the dirt). I don't think the lawn treatment stuff is safe; even if I let my cats outside, I wouldn't on a treated lawn. I'm not much of a gardener, but I do think organic is the best for people and animals. I did start a compost pile when we moved in; it's not on the grass, but in one of those large, plastic garbage totes. If I remember (!), I put all of our coffee grounds, tea bags, and veggie scraps in it.

MargeCat