Heavy metals and metalloids can come from tons of sources and once they are in the soil, they can stay there for decades to come.. This is one reason it is important to know what surrounds your home and the history of the land it is on.   Connect With Anna Paltseva: Dr. Anna Paltseva, Endowed Assistant Professor, is an international urban soil scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), School of Geosciences. Her expertise is in urban soil contamination and remediation of urban gardens. She helps people to determine soil heavy metals, their potential impact on human health, and to find the best ways to improve soil quality in urban gardens. In 2021 she established the Delta Urban Soils Laboratory at ULL to provide soil testing services and informal education to communities, small production farmers, and gardeners in Louisiana and beyond. Instagram YouTube Website Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group

Yesterday, Dr. Anna Paltseva filled us in on why it’s important to know what’s in our soil. Today, she tells us EXACTLY how to take a soil sample and where to get the samples tested.  Connect With Anna Paltseva: Dr. Anna Paltseva, Endowed Assistant Professor, is an international urban soil scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), School of Geosciences. Her expertise is in urban soil contamination and remediation of urban gardens. She helps people to determine soil heavy metals, their potential impact on human health, and to find the best ways to improve soil quality in urban gardens. In 2021 she established the Delta Urban Soils Laboratory at ULL to provide soil testing services and informal education to communities, small production farmers, and gardeners in Louisiana and beyond. Instagram YouTube Website Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group

If you are like the team here at Epic, you are curious about what is actually on your soil. Dr. Anna Paltseva shares a few quick ways to test our soils and explains why it’s so important that we know what is in our dirt! Connect With Anna Paltseva: Dr. Anna Paltseva, Endowed Assistant Professor, is an international urban soil scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), School of Geosciences. Her expertise is in urban soil contamination and remediation of urban gardens. She helps people to determine soil heavy metals, their potential impact on human health, and to find the best ways to improve soil quality in urban gardens. In 2021 she established the Delta Urban Soils Laboratory at ULL to provide soil testing services and informal education to communities, small production farmers, and gardeners in Louisiana and beyond. Instagram YouTube Website Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group

Join the movement! Certifying your garden as a Wildlife Habitat is a great way to show your values and promote gardening for wildlife in your community. Here is the link to learn more! Connect With David Mizejewski: David Mizejewski is a naturalist, author and television presenter with the National Wildlife Federation. He holds a degree in Human and Natural Ecology from Emory University and has hosted television series on both Animal Planet and NatGeo WILD. He's dedicated to helping others understand and protect the natural world, especially by restoring wildlife habitat where people live—which is the subject of his bestselling garden how-to book “Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife.” David’s Social Media: Instagram YouTube Twitter Website Linkedin National Wildlife Federation Social Media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group

To support birds, you must support insects in your garden. David talks more about the ideas behind Gardening for Wildlife and how we can mimic nature to support birds and other critters.  Connect With David Mizejewski: David Mizejewski is a naturalist, author and television presenter with the National Wildlife Federation. He holds a degree in Human and Natural Ecology from Emory University and has hosted television series on both Animal Planet and NatGeo WILD. He's dedicated to helping others understand and protect the natural world, especially by restoring wildlife habitat where people live—which is the subject of his bestselling garden how-to book “Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife.” David’s Social Media: Instagram YouTube Twitter Website Linkedin National Wildlife Federation Social Media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group