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Old 12-09-2003, 09:08 AM
Tony
 
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Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.


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Old 12-09-2003, 12:42 PM
Kane
 
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Hi Tony it's best not to use any treated wood with food that you eat because
of those chemicals, I'd use old railway sleepers for a raise bed.
Also for any info on veggie gardening you might like to visit
www.myveggiegarden.com


Tony tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.




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Old 12-09-2003, 02:02 PM
David Hare-Scott
 
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"Tony" tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise

the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.



I have been looking into this myself recently. It depends on how big
you want the beds, how long you want them to last and what you want to
spend in time and money. Here is what I've found FWIW.

Manufactured concrete blocks tied down with reinforcing rods are strong,
durable, available and look OK but they can become expensive unless your
beds are quite small or you can use recycled materials. An option
probably worth costing to see if it suits you. You can also get
specially made interlocking concrete wall blocks for gardens and
retaining walls but these are even more pricey. They look nice and are
easy to erect, if money is not an issue this may suit.

Sleepers are very heavy for this application and the size will cost you
extra - you don't need the walls to be that thick and they are hard to
handle alone. Also used sleepers might be soaked in stuff like tar or
creosote which I wouldn't like in my vege patch, I would check this
before buying. Their size will make sleepers last longer than lighter
timber, except if you have whiteants in which case you are just
supplying more food for the little buggers, unless the sleepers just
happen to be of the species that the ants don't like.

Untreated hardwood of the more durable species is my choice. I am in a
rural area and its available and fairly cheap. If you buy such stuff at
the suburban timberyard you will probably not have any choice in
species, it will just be 'northern rivers hardwood' or something like
that, so it could be a lucky dip as some species will last well in
contact with soil and others will not.

As for treated timber ... the argument rages. Various authorities will
say that the heavy metals that make them poisonous to organisms causing
rot are locked up safely and others will say that it leaches out
significantly and you are at risk with an edible crop next to them. A
google search will give you a zillion words of emotive prose on this and
as far as I can see no clear answer.

David


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Old 12-09-2003, 11:45 PM
SG1
 
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There is always www.abc.net.au/gardening then look for Pete's patch to see
how he did it.

Tony tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.




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Old 12-09-2003, 11:50 PM
SG1
 
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There is always www.abc.net.au/gardening then look for Pete's patch to see
how he did it.

Tony tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.






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Old 13-09-2003, 12:30 AM
Jane VR
 
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Tony wrote:

Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.



mine are brick.

jane

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Old 13-09-2003, 01:22 AM
Trish Brown
 
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Tony wrote:

Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.


If only I didn't have a Dog That Digs, I'd be doing this too! My preferred
material would be a double layer of old railway sleepers (ie old and
well-weathered), because they're a good height to sit upon as you weed. However,
being that old railway sleepers are getting scarce and new ones are *green* with
nasty copper salts and cost a bomb, I'd go for el cheapo solutions. The best
I've seen is corrugated iron sheets cut into strips and kept upright with star
posts cut to size. That's a lot of cutting, I know, but I s'pose the elbow
grease is what makes this solution a cheap one!

Maybe a trip to a demolition site or a rummage around someone's back paddock
might bring up some old timber or iron sheets you could use? Whatever you decide
on can be disquised by growing small creeping plants alongside (eg. native
violets or thyme or mint ... etc...)

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

PS. I saw a program once that showed individual veggie plants being grown inside
old tyres!
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Old 14-09-2003, 04:43 AM
Terry Collins
 
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Tony wrote:

Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.


Okay, I've done this in various ways.

You have to decide how big?, how permanent?, how expensive (how much you
will spend)?

Our first raised garden bed was three layers of "sleepers", i.e. sawn
timber. In five years they bowed outwards because the termites had eaten
half of them down to a shell. Curiously, the ones the termites did not
touch ended up as sides for out compost bed and still survive.

The next raised garden bed was genuine "used railway sleeper". I brought
a truckload of 50 through a local garden supplies. They were of mixed
quality, I think I ended up with about 40 that were usable as borders.
The rest went as firewood. I have not seen these (red & yellow wood)
attacked by termites after ~ 10 years.

Our latest (temporary?) is just three sheets of 12" wide roofing stuff
that came from a neighbour having a clean up. It is just gone into an
area that "my wench" turned over with a shovel to remove the kikuyu. It
is actually the edge of a very large pile of soil.

The sleeper ones are three sleepers high (side on)(3'). I just trimmed
to dimensions, notched the corner, then drilled a pin hole through and
dropped a 4' pin through all three layers. {:-)

The sleepers were dumped into the front yard (literally). I used a
Triton stand with log jaws to hold the sleeper for cutting to length and
notching. I needed to touch up the chainsaw after each cut. If you don't
know how to properly sharpen a chain saw, make sure you learn fast.
Smoke is a dead give away that the chain is blunt. {:-)

I was then able to transport them to the back yard using a heavy duty
wheelbarrow by myself. I think I used a sheer legs/tripod to lift the
sleeper then move the wheelbarrow the sleeper around the back to
position. I found I was able to lift one sleeper at one end by myself
(arse to ground, back straight, all that stuff) to get it onto the
stand.

Personally, in my 20's lifting one and carrying it by myself was no
trouble. In 30's, I could still lift and manouveur them as above, but
now, no way. {:-) I use all the lifting aids and help I can get.

We heavily newspapered the whole base area, then positioned the logs,
then I drilled each layer in position. I made the pins from steel rod or
reo bar with large washers welded onto the end.

For the drill, you will need a triple geared, hi-torque drill, I "burnt
out" two 1,000 Watt drills, then I found had a 600 Watt triple geared,
hi-torque for about $400 from a trade place (weld-quip?). It had no
trouble turning up to a 1" wood drill (spiral type with cutting tipe)
through the logs. I used various sized drills over the project depending
on the bar I could get hold off. The problem with this drill is when the
bit locks in, your wrists really take it. I also had lots of old soap
chips in water that I applied copiously to the drill and hole (well it
works for screws).

I had a real chuckle because the drill claims to be rated for 40mm in
wood. Yer right, pines maybe.

I paid ~$300 for 50 sleepers about 10 years ago. Current quote from the
company that has the contract for disposal for (NSW) Staterail is from
$8 each + GST, + delivery, etc, etc

I keep looking at the various concrete blocks, because you can do
something different to straight wall, but the cost is rather high.


The roofing strip ones were just bent and held in place by 6 wooden pegs
on the outside and soil on the inside. (they make 3 of 4 sides).

We also use plastic and woven bags as temporary potato growing plots.

Good luck and have fun. The veges are nicer.



--
Terry Collins {:-)}}} email: terryc at woa.com.au www:
http://www.woa.com.au
Wombat Outdoor Adventures Bicycles, Computers, GIS, Printing,
Publishing

"People without trees are like fish without clean water"
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Old 14-09-2003, 06:13 AM
Wanda
 
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Railway sleepers, bricks, reconstituted limestone blocks, rocks, sheet
metal, large planter pots, bath tubs, tyres... I guess it depends on what
you want to plant & the look you're after.
"Tony" tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.




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Old 14-09-2003, 09:42 AM
Linda
 
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You forgot upright old terracotta sewage pipes. Mine is old solid
bricks (nice man at tip) with inset features of sewage pipes. Put a
bit of soil int he pipes and grow something like Thyme (doesn't need
as much water)

Despite bricks being MOSTLY solids, they still provide a smidge too
much harbour for slaters and earwigs etc. But on the up side, I have
lots and lots of really nice little skinks living in them too.

But didn't I hear something about tyres not being nice if you are
concerned about chemicals????

Linda

"Wanda" wrote:

Railway sleepers, bricks, reconstituted limestone blocks, rocks, sheet
metal, large planter pots, bath tubs, tyres... I guess it depends on what
you want to plant & the look you're after.



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Old 15-09-2003, 03:02 AM
CINDY CAMPBELL
 
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Nobody seems to have mentioned straw bales.
My preference would be for railway sleepers but I have seen straw bales used
with some success.
Cheap(ish, depending where you are), green, effective, just not very
permanent.
Good luck. I'll be looking at this myself soon.

B

"Tony" tmg124AThotmailDOTcom wrote in message
...
Hello all
My wench wants me to build a vegie garden this weekend, but she is

concerned
that treated timber will contain poisonous chemicals. I need to raise the
vegie beds, so any suggestions on what to use.
Thank you.




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Old 15-09-2003, 08:03 AM
Linda
 
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Anoth one I have seen suggested is keep your old newspapers, tie in
bundles with string and use them. Drape with hessian if you want them
to look nice.

Think they would still harbour the slaters and earwigs though

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:18:59 +0800, "CINDY CAMPBELL"
wrote:

Nobody seems to have mentioned straw bales.

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Old 15-09-2003, 10:22 PM
kingsley
 
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On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 09:18:16 +1000, Trish Brown wrote:

... and new ones are *green* with
nasty copper salts and cost a bomb ...


So how do I know if the vege garden we just planted
in a bed raised on new-ish sleepers is full of
copper salts or not ?

When we bought them, they were just for flower beds.
But the sleepers don't look green or anything, just like
big bits of sawn timber - kinda red if anything. They're
a few years old now too.

-kt

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Old 21-09-2003, 03:02 PM
Chookie
 
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In article ,
"Kane" wrote:

Hi Tony it's best not to use any treated wood with food that you eat because
of those chemicals, I'd use old railway sleepers for a raise bed.


I wouldn't. The ballast (rocks under the sleepers) is treated with arsenic to
kill weeds.

I just heaped up the soil on my garden beds, and used scrap metal strips and
brick as eding. They aren't hugely raised, but they're above the clay anyway.
I have put in a border of lemongrass to keep the kikuyu at bay.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age
or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990
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