Wildfire Ash Deposits on Garden Produce By Joyce D’Agostino

Those of us who live and garden in the Western United States have found not only the air quality has been impacted by the recent wildfire smoke, but also have found ash has been deposited on the plants, produce and the soil. 

While these deposits may be problematic to your allergies and overall working in your garden, another question you may have is if the produce exposed to this ash still safe to consume? Fortunately, the answer is yes if you follow some procedures for handling both inside and outside when gathering from your garden. 

The first step should to wash off your produce outside with a slow stream of water before bringing it inside, checking to be sure that all of the ash has been washed off. Another important point is that your shoes may have ash debris so removing your shoes outside is also good practice. 

Hopefully as the weather cools and we get more rainfall, this will help extinguish the fires and stop the smoke and ash in our atmosphere and around our landscapes. 

To learn more good steps on how to harvest carefully during wildfire season, read the bulletin below from Oregon State Extension and from Boulder County, CO: 

OregonStateExtension-ash-on-fruits/vegetables, OregonStateExtension-ask-expert, BoulderCounty-wildfire-ash