How Should We Manage Urban Gardens

We conducted an observation study of urban gardens in Corvallis and Portland, Oregon. A brief site analysis recorded weed pressure, season extension techniques, and crops grown, among other details. We took soil samples from every vegetable bed at each participating site. We are in the midst of testing these samples for nutrient content, heavy metal contamination, as well as a couple biological and physical parameters. We intend to contrast raised-beds against in-ground beds as well as suggest alteration to sampling procedures for garden soil. This research will result in increased precision of vocabulary by refining the defining differences between bed types and to describe mulch in greater detail. This effort will provide novel data about the content of urban garden soils. We seek to improve communication between researchers and producers by coupling the soil analysis with improved definitions. This will also enable recommendations to be made with urban soil data, rather than extrapolated from related but larger agricultural studies