Soil Kitchen Twin Cities

May and June, 2016

The Soil Kitchen Twin Cities project provides free screening for lead in soils to communities around the Twin Cities metro area. Lead in urban soils can be a serious problem for children who come into contact with it and home gardens. Faculty and students from the Department bring equipment to test soil samples for lead, pH, and texture. 

Events 

  • May 14, 2016 | 11 AM to 2 PM at St. Olaf Community Campus (2901 Emerson Ave. North) in North Minneapolis
  • May 21, 2016 | 11 AM to 2 PM at the Frogtown Backyard Farm in Saint Paul 
  • June 11, 2016 at Dusk to Dawn as part of Northern Spark. Located in the Train Shed at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.
  • June 24, 2016 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska

To collect a sample for screening: 

  1. Choose 3-5 locations scattered within your area of interest (for example, your front lawn, back lawn, vegetable garden). Composite samples can be taken from garden spaces/growing spaces. If you want to do lead screening specifically around past or current buildings, or where cars were parked, then consider bringing a separate composite sample for that. 
  2. Remove grass, weeds, leaves from the surface
  3. Use a clean trowel or shovel and a clean bucket
  4. Dig down 3 to 4 inches at each of the locations and put the soil in the bucket
  5. Mix the samples in the bucket, remove rocks, and let dry
  6. Put 2 cups of your mixed soil sample into a plastic bag. Bring your sample to one of the events. If you are submitting more than one sample, you may use a code to identify each sample for your own information. Multiple samples will be accommodated if space and time allows.