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Re: Building Raised Beds... Blocks?

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


Bill bequeathed:


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Many folk use one row of cinder blocks without mortar. I think two rows
>would be OK if you needed them.

I've built a mortarless raised bed of concrete blocks three rows high, that
worked fine.
>
>But as for the treated wood thing, at this point it is clear that both
sides
>have indisputable evidence in support of their position, so of course,
>dispute rages. I don't use it because I don't have to and I am not sure of
>the risks, but I also know that there is a little bit of elitism tainting
>the Organic Gardening ethic. The Idea that if you cannot afford Cedar,
>perhaps you should leave Organic Gardening to those who are wiser and more
>dedicated than you...

Or perhaps we could put it this way: treated wood is toxic to the fungi,
insects and bacteria that would normally cause the wood to decay. It is not
unreasonable to suspect that that toxicity might 'move over' into the soil,
and it is certainly true that the manufacture of treated wood has caused
some environmental problems.

I use pallet wood and other untreated wood, much of it free for the hauling
, for some of my raised beds; if you are handy with splitting tools logs can
be quarter split and used, and there are of course, bricks, blocks and good
old stones, that can be laid up with or without mortar...

Good logs to look for include black locust, catalpa, osage orange, and the
cedars...

IMHO, the basic idea of organic gardening is that nature has the power to
solve your gardening problems without toxic additives...and it's better to
be safe than sorry.

My two cents,

Frank Teuton


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