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    wildandblue's Avatar
    wildandblue Posts: 663, Reputation: 57
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    #1

    Apr 26, 2008, 10:03 AM
    Vegetable garden with underground electric lines in my yard
    The electric supply to our house is buried underground from the pole to the house. There is a nice spot in the yard that gets full sun that I'd like to develop into a vegetable garden like tomatoes and salad greens etc. I know I can dig near the buried cable obviously but how far away from it would be safe? I've heard stories how electrical fields can cause anything from Leukemia to Alzhimers and whether it's true or not I wan't to feel safe about the food we grow organically. I know exactly where the power cable is. Would 10 or 12 feet back away from it be safe? Just asking for opinions. Thanks! :(
    Fr_Chuck's Avatar
    Fr_Chuck Posts: 81,301, Reputation: 7692
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    #2

    Apr 26, 2008, 10:32 AM
    I believe you are confusing the high power lines that supply all the electric to entire cities with the one bring power to your home, that power goes to that breaker box in your house, and into the wires in your home,
    The amount of electric in the line coming to your home actually surrounds you daily in the wires within your home.

    Just be sure and not dig on it or into it ( and it should be deep enough that this could not happen hopefully.
    wildandblue's Avatar
    wildandblue Posts: 663, Reputation: 57
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    #3

    Apr 28, 2008, 09:32 AM
    Of course you are right. I feel much better after reading your reply.:)
    MOWERMAN2468's Avatar
    MOWERMAN2468 Posts: 3,214, Reputation: 243
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    #4

    Apr 28, 2008, 04:56 PM
    I would not worry about the lines. And they should be plenty deep to not worry about hitting them as long as they were put in by code, and you are using a regular garden tiller.
    KISS's Avatar
    KISS Posts: 12,510, Reputation: 839
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    #5

    Apr 28, 2008, 08:37 PM
    Hey, my high school science project which won honorable mention in national competition was entitiled "Electroculture in Radish growth" which looked at the effects of high voltage electricity on radish growth. Short answer, they grew faster. If I remember correctly, it was probably about 9-12 killovolts at about 6".

    Buried residential power lines probably have no where the electric field to produce this kind of behavior.
    wildandblue's Avatar
    wildandblue Posts: 663, Reputation: 57
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    #6

    May 9, 2008, 02:29 PM
    I will be throwing all really nice looking radishes on the compost pile after reading that. LOL I'm going 20 feet away from the undergrouind line putting a fence around the patch to discourage digging anywhere else if I do get a "senior moment" plus I'm turning my patch over with a hoe and a spade, no power equipment. I got the book Sqare Foot Gardening.
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