Tru-green got spray on my garden! What now?

So the guy who owns the farm I work, decided to use tru-Green lawn service against my advice. I told him I was growing a garden and did not want them spraying on it. So he had me go out to them and show them where it is and please do not come near it with their spray.

Well they were always careful... until today... They came to spray the bushes with something, I don't know what, and as I was walking some horses out I saw them spraying the trees and of course it was blowing right over the garden.

I JUST got my arugula up and was all excited to get it... crap, I am really pissed! So now what? Do I harvest it anyway and just wash the crap out of it? Do I clip everything off and wait for re growth? Do I douse it all with water a few times and wait another week?

Any advice now that the damage is done?

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Permalink Reply by ednshell on June 28, 2012 at 4:09pm

Call your State's Department of Agriculture. Tell them you want them to take a formal complaint against the company who sprayed and you want them to come out and do tests. Take pics of any visible damage, brown grass, your beautiful garden before and after. If they find evidence you will have a good case to go to court.

We filed a report last month against a company in Missouri. The Dept. of Ag. said they had 70 total state wide complaints so far this year. 3 years ago we filed a complaint against our city and they were found in violation. We have not sued them but an ex EPA scientist told us that with that kind of evidence it was very easy to win a legal judgement for a good chunk of money. Ralph Nader swears by suing these kind of people to make change happen and he says that costing them money is the key.

It really is very upsetting when this happens!!! :P Use it as fuel to do something good! :)

Oh wait, it's not your property, never mind. ;) Well for future reference...

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Permalink Reply by ednshell on June 28, 2012 at 4:09pm

I would probably pick and toss and re-grow some new stuff myself. Some of those fertilizer sprays have heavy metals in them. You can ask them for a material safety data sheet but they often list 90% or more of the ingredients as "inert" or trade secrets and that can be very bad stuff. I would also skim the top of my soil or mulch and toss it too. We are exposed to so many chemicals already, I do what I have within my control to limit my exposure.

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Permalink Reply by Chris P. on June 28, 2012 at 5:17pm

Thanks shell, that's a good idea. I worked in Chemistry for a while, so I know my way around an MSDS, I'll call the company and find out what they were spraying. If it was some iron stuff, etc, then I wont be so worked up. If it was pesticide, then I'll probably just do what you suggested, pinch and toss.

It's just such a bummer to do all that work, get things sown, weed, water, wait and it comes up and then comes along some tool who doesn't think "gee, maybe if I spray upwind of a vegetable garden, that might not be a good idea".

Grr! Meh, I'm also up all night to work on something last minute for my company (not even a project I am on) too, so I'm in a bad mood all the way around. It's been one of "those" days! :) It'll all pass.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!