Worried.....

aa battery · Jan 28, 2011

about things im finding in my yard. My home is built on land farmed from the late 1800s to about the 1940s. Part of the time it was the farm for Fresno State Univ. Im located at the back of the farm near dry creek that borders it. Well the dogs have been digging up small bottles and the soil looks strange like black potting soil. :icon_scratch:

Its deep so my MD doesnt pick up any metal. I want to dig but im worried about what is in the ground like bad chemicals. I tried to get info about the farm but found nothing. The old farm house is still down the street so when i get a new camera i will post it. Thanks

DigginThePast · Jan 28, 2011

Are there any markings on the bottles you've already found? Posting to What Is It or the Boards might help to ID some of them.

Its probably just an old dump. I've dug through several out here and most have that sort of rich soil you describe, I've always attributed that to the breakdown of organic matter that was dumped there over the years.

If you want to find out for sure though, get a soil test done. Sometimes free, usually around $20 from what I've seen but yours may be more in depth and more dollars. Not all tests will be appropriate to your concerns, many deal with just certain chemicals for certain agricultural crops. Check out this site, you may find some you could call and inquire:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soil-lab.html