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Need Your Advice! Anybody Know About Vegetable Gardening Over Septic Drain Field?

Long story short, we have a large area next to our home where we intended on planting a vegetable garden this season. As it turns out that area appears to be the septic system drain field. Here’s a photo (note: the rest of our property is basically all trees except for a small front yard)…

septic-field

Since we’ve never been much more than hobby gardeners (we just recently purchased about $50 worth of seeds from TerritoralSeed.com) I wasn’t planning on using the entire area whatsoever for our garden but I’m afraid that the entire open spot is the drain field, but honestly don’t know.

As I’ve never had a septic system to deal with I had no idea if it was safe to plant a vegetable garden atop the drain field and so I began to research and it seems that vegetable gardening isn’t such a great idea (source):

“It is generally considered a good idea to plant your septic field, but it isn’t the ideal place for a vegetable garden. According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) shallow-rooting plants can help the septic drain system work well by removing moisture and nutrients from the soil; they can also reduce soil erosion. As far as planting vegetables is concerned, the VCE materials say that the question of contamination depends on the soil’s ability to filter viruses and bacteria: clay soils can eliminate bacteria within a few inches of the drain trenches, but sandy soils may allow bacterial movement for several feet. The VCE explains that a properly operating septic system will not contaminate the soil but notes that it is difficult for home gardeners to determine whether a system is working as it should.”

Because our soil looks rather sandy now I’m wary of even trying! The article goes on to say (source):

“VCE advises using the septic field for ornamental plants and suggests putting your vegetable garden elsewhere. If you have no other place, the service recommends taking these precautions:

  • Do not plant root crops over drain lines.
  • Leafy vegetables could be contaminated by rain splashing soil onto the plant, so either mulch them to eliminate splashing or don’t grow them.
  • Fruiting crops are probably safe; train any that grow on vines, such as cucumbers or tomatoes onto a support so that the fruit is off the ground.
  • Thoroughly wash any produce from the garden before eating it.
  • Do not construct raised beds over the field; they might inhibit evaporation of moisture.”

My next thought was to simply construct raised garden beds but the final bullet point above suggest that might not be a good plan either. I’d even be willing to

And, so, I’m simply asking if anybody else has planted a vegetable garden over a septic drain field and if so do you actually take any of the aforementioned precautions or are they being overly cautions?

Thanks for any input you might provide!

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Damian Brindle

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Comments

6 responses to “Need Your Advice! Anybody Know About Vegetable Gardening Over Septic Drain Field?”

  1. Jon

    While I’m no expert, I have talked to a few about septic fields. How deep down is the field? If it’s less than 24″ below the surface, I’d steer clear.

    Sand does not guarantee fast draining, especially if it lower than the surrounding area or the sand is only the first few feet of soil. If the ground gets saturated after a rain and the field stays wet because it’s slow draining or lower than the surrounding area, I’d steer clear.

    People who live in the north, or have a well constructed drain field in the south will have the drain pipes at least 60″ deep, providing a good buffer between the surface and the field. This makes it less likely to cause a problem for anything but root veggies.

    However how fast the drains and the slope away from the field are key. If there is a downslope away from the field and water does not build up after a hard rain, then you’re probably ok for anything that grows above ground.

    My parents house is on a sand hill with the drain field below and running parallel to the summit. The family has been growing blackberries for canning for better part of 75 years over the drain fields (it’s was replaced about 20 years ago). Not once has there been any reason to believe that those berries were a problem.

    As for root crops, well, I think I’d pass even it were situated on the side of a sand covered mountain.

    Reply
  2. T.R.

    Poo pickles and turd turnips ………………gunna need a lot of spices for that harvest 😉

    Reply
  3. Mike

    As somebody who works in the medical field I would steer clear of this area for planting. Human feces contains many bacteria that is very harmful if ingested. E. coli comes to mind and can be very deadly if ingested. I question if it could leach into the plants you are planting in the ground.

    Reply
  4. Rick

    We had a drain field in clay soil under our yard, including the vegetable garden for years without any problems.

    I agree with Hank’s comments about heavy watering over the drain field. Even root crops are unlikely to intrude into a properly operating field.

    Good luck and I enjoy your email everyday. Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Ridgerunner

    I grew my garden on my septic field for four years and had the best gardens remembered. I have been growing gardens for 70 years and organic for the last twenty-five. We were always careful who s**t in the toilet; the pathogen question has always festered (no pun) in my mind. Where do we put municipal sewer plant products? My new system is composting toilets and greywater leach field under parts of the garden; feed and water the garden from the kitchen sink.

    Reply
  6. Hank

    It probably is not an issue of “safe” as it is unlikely pathogenic bacteria are taken up into the plants. So you will not “infect” yourself with the product of your septic tank.

    However, ANY vegetable that takes up lots of water as part of its main volume (lettuce, tomatoes, melons, citrus etc.) will take up the volatiles that give sewage its distinctive aroma. To put it bluntly, your vegetables will literally smell and taste like sh*t, no pun intended. Supposedly beans, some root crops etc. are unaffected, but I’d not stake my salad on it.

    Bottom line, skip the septic field and leave it for grass fodder or ornamentals. Find somewhere else or use raised beds.

    Reply

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