To wonder how people cope living in London?!

[WinterIsHereJon]

I'm visiting for the weekend. It's hot, sweaty, incredibly busy. We had the misfortune of travelling on the tube during rush hour earlier, people pushed and pushed onto an already full train, to the point where I became rather intimately acquainted with a chap behind me. Despite the complete lack of room people were still attempting to read newspapers! I think I'd snap if that was part of my daily routine, I don't know how people do it!

I don't know how you find out, JassyRadlett has had her allotment tested so she will know

Not quite. The soil was tested as part of a rolling LA programme of testing, as referenced in the journal study you mentioned. It was a collective 'we', no intent to mislead.

What did you think about the authors of that study being worried about people eating the produce from that very contaminated soil only if it wasn't washed properly?

What did you think about the authors of that study being worried about people eating the produce from that very contaminated soil only if it wasn't washed properly?

What are you talking about?

They did not suggest people only eat it if they wash it. They said and I quote A decision was made to remediate the site. Pending this, we advised the allotment holders not to cultivate the land or eat any produce grown on it as we could not be sure that preparation of the produce before consumption would remove all adherent lead-contaminated soil, and continued cultivation could also expose them to lead in the soil dust.

I tried to grow strawberries in my London garden one year. The plant produced only one berry but I watched it growing with pride. The morning I decided to harvest it I went out at 7am to find a bird had beaten me to it. I was annoyed at the time, but feel better at the thought that he might have died a lingering death from lead poisoning and his wife almost certainly laid eggs with thin shells and pallid yolks.

Yep - their concern was about soil adhering to the food (ie not being completely removed) rather than being taken up into the plant. They go into this in some detail, both in referring to the fact that plant uptake of lead by plants is low, as well as mentioning some of the practical issues with their worst case scenario - one being that effective preparation of the food would negate said scenario.

Even in such contaminated soils, the actual lead level in the plants was interesting, I thought.

I grow strawberries in my inner London garden, and various other things too. They are delicious but if I die horribly I'll know what to blame.

I am consumed with envy Irene. I had to accept that my inner London garden was too shady for fruit and vegetables. I tried to grow courgettes in gro-bags, but they need deep roots and lots of light. Still, the leaves were enormous and beautiful. I used to water them at night and sit in the garden listening to the leaves dripping and the sound of police sirens and breaking glass.

Ah yes limited, there are certainly some incongruous moments, as I weed my strawberries and trim back my brambles to the accompaniment of throbbing bass from the local music festival and a police helicopter circling overhead.

Actually my main health concern is toxoplasmosis, owing to the large number of local cats that like to shit in my garden.

I make cider with the apples from my tree, and to be fair, it has left a few people in fairly poor health...

....my tomatoes are looking good, if they start to grow in the dark I promise I won't eat them!

sparechange I felt decidedly queer after quaffing a large bottle of carrot wine from a friend's London allotment. Damn that contaminated soil.

After having looked at the London weather forecast (cos I will be there tomorrow), I have decided that the only reason I would live in London is that it always gets far better weather than we do. There is often 5 or 6 degrees difference in temperatures, and mid to high teens centigrade is very definitely not summer weather as far as I'm concerned.

My garden hit 35 degrees in the heatwave, it was glorious!

'Carrot wine
is sweet and heady,
Like my love...'

I live in a hot country and it's hot and sweaty here too! That's just standing outside, though, without the advantage of being moved very quickly and conveniently via tube.
I used to live in London and loved it - always something to see and do and transport is so easy despite the large distances.

Depends on where you live. Most of the people I know who live and work in zones 1-2 walk or cycle to and from, or use the tube after peak rush because it's cheaper and far far less busier. It's only mugs like me who live outside london who are on the tube during rush hour!

Zone 1-6. Sorry.

I used to like living in London in my 20s but I'd hate it now. I don't think I'll ever live in a city again, never mind London. On the rare occasions I go back I find it horribly crowded, smelly and stressful. Rural Cumbrian village for me these days. I know London has all sorts of amazing cultural stuff to do, but tbh I wonder whether many Londoners spend enough time doing those things to outweigh what I'd see as the downsides.

I'm visiting for the weekend. It's hot, sweaty, incredibly busy. We had the misfortune of travelling on the tube during rush hour earlier, people pushed and pushed onto an already full train, to the point where I became rather intimately acquainted with a chap behind me. Despite the complete lack of room people were still attempting to read newspapers! I think I'd snap if that was part of my daily routine, I don't know how people do it!

We wont miss you when you go.

Go home early infact!