"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...

. . . railway sleepers to construct raised beds - are there any concerns

Often sleepers have been treated with toxic chemicals and so they would
not
be suitable for vegetables, find out from the source what they have been
treated with and then research the risks of that treatment. Some are
timber
that is durable in contact with the soil without treatment (and may have
never actually been used on a railway) so they would OK.

Do local poplar logs require any special treatment before
edging raised beds? Space is no problem and the back
acre, once a horse pasture, is choked full of grey birch
and poplar (the local weed species) most 10 years old
(since the great Ice Storm of 1999.)

We now are planning winter logging to open up for better
sunlight. We can burn poplar in the stove (100-120 days/
year) but it is poor fuel and a couple of cords of maple
are seasoned already. Use of poplar logs (6 to 12" diam.)
as edging would mean moving it shorter distances. Can
these logs be used intact with bark or is there some
chemical reason to peel them (next spring)?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)