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Re: building raised beds

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

We just had this discussion on another list a few months ago. I have
been buying the pressure treated lumber for my gardens. I wasn't aware
that the wood was pressure treated and all my gardens were made of this
wood. I wrote to my local extension agency and also contacted the store 
I bought the wood from. Both seemed to understand my concern. They were
also aware of the problems with the arson in the p.t. wood. There has
been testing on this wood and no arson turned up in the soil. Also,
the plants would have to take in the arsen and that does not seem to
be happening. But it is always better to be on the safe side and if
you can use bricks or something else, I'm sure that would be better.
I definitely would not use railroad ties, although when I first got
into organic gardening, that is what people used. They have been known
to have chemicals leach in the soil. If I have to use the p.t. wood,
I will make sure it stays in another part of the yard for awhile so
that it can get rained on, or sprinkled on, and that may help remove
the arsen before I put the wood in the garden.

   Susan S. in zone 9

>Railroad ties are soaked with creosote, which is fairly toxic --- to
>the point that it will burn your skin if you get it on you.  Normal
>lumber is pressure-treated with other nasty stuff --- arsenides if I
>remember correctly.
>
>Creosote can definitely leach into your garden and will kill plants; I
>don't know if it will contaminate unkilled plants.  Pressure-treated
>lumber is not known to leach its poisons into your soil, but there's no
>way *I'm* going to risk it.
>
>I got a bunch of bricks from old buildings being demolished in my area;
>I think I will build my raised bed from these.  A
>four-foot-across-the-corners hexagon that's four bricks high --- about
>a foot --- should take about 100 bricks.
>

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