More garden questions-keep veggies safe from yard chemicals

[rooster222]

I would love to just do raised beds but how do I keep yard chemicals away from the veggies?  I feel like they'd either be coming up the bottom into the soil or being carried by the breeze on to the leaves when the yard is being sprayed.  I also don't trust that when they spray they'd be careful near the garden.  

I can't not get our yard sprayed-we live in a neighborhood with an HOA.  I've inquired about switching to entirely organic yard treatment but it is more than twice as expensive and doesn't address issues like crabgrass-which we have a problem with.

I'm ok with doing the garden tables that are completely off the ground but they are a lot more expensive and I'm also not sure about treated wood and the chemicals in that.

I'm probably overly cautious about dangerous chemicals but I'm a bit of a health nut and worry over those things a lot.  

Can anyone guide me or recommend some good resources for safe/organic container gardening?

Thanks so much!

[penguingrrl]

I’m curious why having an HOA means you can’t get your yard sprayed? I won’t put chemicals on my lawn at all. They contaminate the entire water system through ground water.

[hamster]

Could you put down plastic or landscape fabric, and then bring in your own dirt for the beds, with a wiiide space around it?

Do you know what day they spray in advance? Maybe you could put up a barrier that day to avoid wind damage?

This makes me salty. I know the point of a HOA is to keep things looking nice, but I'm getting increasingly very uncomfortable with yard chemicals.

[rooster222]

The HOA doesn't specifically require that we use chemicals on our yard but if we end up with weeds and dandelions we will get a citation. If I lived in the country I would not spray my yard at all.

I feel like in my side yard that is fenced I could take that complete section and turn it into my garden and have a large buffer but it's on the west side of my house so it wouldn't get morning sun. I don't know if that would be ok. The other side of my house would be more ideal sun-wise but I don't have the side yard fenced and no way to create that protective space around the garden.

[penguingrrl]

Huh. Dandelions are really important for bees, so I can’t imagine living in a land that banished them. And clover is also environmentally beneficial. Monoculture in the form of grass is really bad. I would be discussing the environmental impact of such ridiculous rules with the HOA.

[sillygoosegirl]

Apr 24, 2019 19:13:39 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Huh. Dandelions are really important for bees, so I can’t imagine living in a land that banished them. And clover is also environmentally beneficial. Monoculture in the form of grass is really bad. I would be discussing the environmental impact of such ridiculous rules with the HOA.

This. Dumb HOA rules can be changed by the homeowners, and there is increasing awareness these days that tranditional lawn care and monoculture lawns are bad for both the environment and humans. I don't know if this is appropriate to your climate, but you might run something like this by your HOA. I know at least one of our neighbors in the HOA we boarder have it. And it's lovely. ptlawnseed.com/products/fleur-de-lawn

[mrspez07]

I work with HOAs a lot on the review side. What do the requirements in the documents say about weeds, grass and yard maintenance? You can push back if there is not specific language they are tagging you for regarding the species you mention in the lawn. Also, if it is an older HOA, these monoculture rules were more typical than now and you could petition for change. Also, if it is that strict, you might also look for restrictions on veggie gardens, I’ve seen some that used to prohibit them!
I also don’t think having your garden on the west side would be problematic.