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Re: Painting raised beds?

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

Jane and Mark Stonich wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>We are new to the list, and this will be our first attempt at Square Foot
>Gardening.
>We are hoping someone could help us with a few questions.
>
>We are starting out with 4 - 3'x4' boxes.  We'll be using new fir 2x8s, so
>we'd like to help them last.
>
>My neighbor used non-treated fir for her raised boxes. She painted them,
>inside and out, with what she calls "Environmentally safe paint" and they
>still look like new after several seasons.
<snip>
>Jane and Mark
>Zone 4

Hi Jane and Mark,

Like you guys, I'm also in the process of building several (16 - 4'x4' beds)
raised beds out of 2x6 pine/fir so i've been debating what I should do to
help preserve the wood.

I don't know about the paint you're talking about (I've never heard of it)
but the following recipe is supposed to be an "organic" wood preservative -
that you can make at home - that will extend the life of your raised beds.

--------------
This is supposed to protect wood for 20 years but I've never tried it:

1 1/2 cup boiled linseed oil*,
1 ounce paraffin wax
enough solvent (mineral spirits, or turpentine at room temp) to make a total
volume of 1 gallon.

Melt the paraffin in a double boiler,...Off to side, stir solvent
vigorously, slowly pour in paraffin, add linseed oil, continue to stir.  Dip
or brush on heavy application. Can be painted when dry.
--------------

*I read recently in Wood Magazine that linseed oil can be toxic to children
when used on wooden toys so I'm wondering if the preceding recipe is really
all that safe for anyone at any age.

Instead of using the recipe above, I'm thinking of using corn oil heated on
my camp stove and applied hot to the inside surfaces of the beds.  I had
planned on using several coats until the wood wouldn't soak up any more oil.
I'm thinking that applying it hot will cause the pores of the wood to open
more thus allowing the oil to soak in deeper.

After letting the last coat of oil soak in and wiping off any excess, I had
then planned on painting a coat of melted beeswax to the inside surfaces to
help seal out moisture.

For the outside of the boxes I'm just using a wood stain with a UV
protectant and maybe adding Thompsons water seal.

I'm not sure if what I'm planning will work so if anyone on this list has
any suggestions on how to do this differently, let me know.

Jim Morris
Winnebago, Minnesota
Zone 4b


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