Is it safe?

Hello everyone, new poster here! I need to ask your opinion.

I keep raised vegetable beds, and this morning I was rather disgusted to find that a dog or fox had left his calling card scattered around one of my beds. It's been dry here but we've been away for a couple days and I'm not sure how long it's been there. I cleaned out the poo but I'm wondering now if the soil is contaminated? The main reason I'm concerned is that I'm 8 months pregnant and don't want to risk any infections. Amongst other things I have radishes growing that will be ready in a couple weeks.

Do you think this is something to be concerned about, or is it not a worry? In 'my condition' it's easy to overthink things! :o

 

Err, NO worries.

You shouldn't really be growing your on veg if this kind of thing freaks you out.:WINK1:

 

I grew up on a farm, not to mention having the honour to clean up after all the cats and dogs who've shared our home over the years. If fear of poo was a problem I'd be in therapy by now! But being pregnant I'm much more wary of these things than I'd normally be, especially as I'm going to be eating some of the veg soon. I just wondered how much of a risk from parasites etc it might be. Personally I don't think it's too high but I wanted some other opinions.

 

With my midwife's hat on: if you're pregnant, you do need to watch out with cat poo. The main risk is much earlier on, but it still,you probably wouldn't want to get toxoplasmosis even now.

but as long as you wash your hands (and the fruit and veg obviously) very well, I would think you'll be fine.

 

Y'know, to be honest I wouldn't worry too much - you/we will happily eat stuff from the supermarket without any idea of what may or may not have been done to, near or on it. You'll wash whatever you've grown that needs washing, cook whatever needs cooking and at 8 months pregnant your baby is now only growing - by which I mean all the vital developmental stages are long past.

You can buy some wild animal spray which keeps the foxes well away from my garden - it's completely odourless (to humans at any rate) and is safe to use on/near edible crops (just mix with warm water and spray it around). Failing that, a bit of wide mesh garden netting laid gently over your growing crops could deter cats.

Enjoy your crops and pictures of the baby when it comes are a must on here - we like pictures.

 

Fidgetsmum is right, when I worked on the mushroom farm there were no toilets or soap to wash your hands with after you'd gone behind a tunnel.

We were told to say we used the loo in the farmhouse(we weren't even allowed in the farmhouse) if health & safety ever visited.

Pickers out in the field fare no better. I've heard reports from lady leek pickers about how they have to hold their coats around each other when they need a wee, as there is simply no shelter in a 40 acre field.

Always wash the veg you buy, even if it looks clean.

Hope all goes well with baby. Any more concerns about things, don't hesitate to ask, thats what we're here for, don't be shy.

Have a look at our poisonous plants thread stuck to the top as well, and when baby is crawling, ask me about baby proofing the garden, there are an awfull lot of things that you wouldn't think about that kids can put in their mouths, or ears, or eyes, or noses.

 

Hi Calendula,
toxoplasmosis is the Big Baddie and if I understand, it's only cat poo that is risky, and even that only in the early stages of pregnancy. What you might get now, if very very unlucky, is worms or stomach upset. Both are quite unpleasant, especially when properly pregnant.

You are quite right to ask, it is always best to be informed in order to make sensible choises. Common sense is obviously the best guidance, but it rarely covers deep insights to viruses, parasites and toxins...

Your baby is big already so no need to worry. I wish you the most wonderful BigBump time, do keep us posted!

 

Thanks all for the replies, it's been a help. I'm not completely sure what it was as the creature managed to do his business without leaving any tracks or marks behind. Quite the acrobatic feat! Our garden isn't fenced off and occasionally we have problems with dogs running through but this is the first problem I've had with fouling in the beds. I've set up some netting which will hopefully keep whatever it is away.

You're quite right to say we don't really know where our food has been, too. I always try to wash it well even when it comes from my own patch. And I'm looking forward to bringing the baby out with me in the garden to watch mum work. Get her started early! :D

 

You said "her"

 

Sorry, I was going back to the tense moments when Mrs Zig was rushed into the emergency room & Mr Zig wasn't allowed in.

A young girl popped her head out & said "Your wife is doing ok and so is he."

I said "You said He ?":DOH:

I had no idea before that second.

"He" is now 16 and keeps asking for £1500 for a moped. I still love him just as much as that first day when they left me all alone in the room & he was just a tiny squirming thing in an incubator.

All the nurses had just gone & it was just me and him. I opened the door to the incubator & he wrapped his little fingers around my index finger & stopped crying.

When we got him home he never made a sound, never cried, just looked at me with big cow eyes.

Was getting worried about his speach development, he never said a word till about a year old.

If You want to know what his first words were then i'll tell you tommorow, if you're still interested.:gaagh: