Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about using
wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
considering things like
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.

Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood (b)
any other "systems" like the ones above?

"Graham Harrison" wrote in
message ...
Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure
about using
wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
considering things like

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.

Anybody care to comment on
(a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood

IMHO yes.

(b)
any other "systems" like the ones above?
IMHO such systems are designed and marketed to part your money from
you.

Franz

"Graham Harrison" wrote in message
...
Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about
using
wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
considering things like

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...5&products_id=
749
(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.

Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood
(b)
any other "systems" like the ones above?

Just make them from the timber of old pallets and they're very unlikely to
have been treated. Pallets aren't worth the bother. They're also free. Take
a tour round your local industrial estate and you'll probably find places
only too grateful for you to take them away.

Steve

Steve

"Graham Harrison" wrote in message
...
Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about
using
wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
considering things like

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.

Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood
(b)
any other "systems" like the ones above?

Not disagreeing with pallet suggestion but you could also follow Monty D's
line on Gardeners World and use untreated scaffold boards - cheap (about £7
for 8'?) (got em for my fruit bed) or keep eye out for what I got for main
veg bed - untreated French oak 'sleepers' 2.4m x 200mm x 100mm, following
big french storm for £10-12 a piece....

Michael

In article , Graham Harrison
writes
Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about using
wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
considering things like
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.

Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood (b)
any other "systems" like the ones above?

The two examples of raised beds shown are more like containers for
floral work than a plot for vegetable growing. Ideally for cropping
vegetables a raised bed needs to be about four feet wide, i.e. the
widest which enables the centre of the bed to be reached without
treading on the soil. The length can vary according to what space you
have, but 12-15 ft. is about the maximum practical. A variety of
materials have been suggested for the sides of raised beds, but in fact
there is no horticultural merit in artificially raising the level of the
growing area. We ran a large number of beds commercially for several
years and none of them ever had supported sides.

When the soil of the bed is deeply cultivated and regularly worked, and
at the same time the walking paths around it are repeatedly trodden, the
bed will be 3 or 4 inches above the path. They are called raised beds
for that reason, but the name really refers to the 'raised bed' method
of horticulture, than to their height. Beds without supported sides are
easier to manage and less inclined to attract problems at the edges.
They are also cost free to set up.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , Graham Harrison
writes
Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about
using wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded

You *want* things to be embedded!
Use gravel boards which have been pressure tannalised.
They don't rot!
--
Chris

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 19:20:24 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Harrison"
wrote:

~Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about using
~wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
~considering things like
~http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
~(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
~http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.
~
~Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood (b)
~any other "systems" like the ones above?
~
~
If you want to create a bed of a respectable size, then both these
options will cost an absolute fortune. Also both will be quite high in
energy use in their manufacture, so aren't terribly green even if the
plastic is recycled carrier bags or something.

I'm using old wood to make raised beds at the allotment, though they
aren't very neat. I figure they've had any chemical coatings washed
out over the years so should be fine, together with the recycling
aspect and their being wood.

Failing that, go to your nearest local (small) timber yard and have a
chat. They will know what things have been pressure-treated with, and
will also probably be happy to cut pieces to the exact sizes you need
for your beds. My local one did just that for my netting frames, and
would have delivered too.


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 07:24:24 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:

~In article , Graham Harrison
writes
~Considering creating raised beds for vegetables. Not too sure about using
~wood because of the various chemicals that might be embedded so I'm
~considering things like
~http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=749
~(there's a bigger version too). I've also come across
~http://www.hdra.org.uk/todo_now/faqs_topic.php?id=126.
~
~Anybody care to comment on (a) whether I'm being silly in rejecting wood (b)
~any other "systems" like the ones above?
~
~The two examples of raised beds shown are more like containers for
~floral work than a plot for vegetable growing. Ideally for cropping
~vegetables a raised bed needs to be about four feet wide, i.e. the
~widest which enables the centre of the bed to be reached without
~treading on the soil. The length can vary according to what space you
~have, but 12-15 ft. is about the maximum practical. A variety of
~materials have been suggested for the sides of raised beds, but in fact
~there is no horticultural merit in artificially raising the level of the
~growing area. We ran a large number of beds commercially for several
~years and none of them ever had supported sides.
~
~When the soil of the bed is deeply cultivated and regularly worked, and
~at the same time the walking paths around it are repeatedly trodden, the
~bed will be 3 or 4 inches above the path. They are called raised beds
~for that reason, but the name really refers to the 'raised bed' method
~of horticulture, than to their height. Beds without supported sides are
~easier to manage and less inclined to attract problems at the edges.
~They are also cost free to set up.

Course this also depends on the aspect of the land. My lottie slopes
diagonally, so putting in pieces of wood on the downward sides of each
bed helps to level it and stop water running straight off and away
from the plants. I've done what you describe for the past couple of
years, with carpet pieces as paths, and it does help management, apart
from the slope. This season for one bed I put in some sides, levelled
the soil and it worked so well I'm now trying to 'fence' in all the
beds.

(Sorry this is spread over two replies!)

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

In article , jane jane@moonrose.
demonmapson.co.uk writes

Course this also depends on the aspect of the land. My lottie slopes
diagonally, so putting in pieces of wood on the downward sides of each
bed helps to level it and stop water running straight off and away
from the plants. I've done what you describe for the past couple of
years, with carpet pieces as paths, and it does help management, apart
from the slope. This season for one bed I put in some sides, levelled
the soil and it worked so well I'm now trying to 'fence' in all the
beds.

[reply to both messages]

Yes, as always gardening decisions are a combination of personal choice
and given circumstances. If your beds need some shoring up at the lower
end, then that is the right thing for you to do. Where soil has a
tendency always to be very loose and friable, raised beds can spill over
onto adjoining paths and can need holding in. Some gardeners find a need
to raise a veg. growing area to overcome problems of drainage, or
because their soil has a persistent tendency to clog up and return to
sub-soil. In other gardens where the main aspect is flower beds,
herbaceous borders, lawns, shrubberies etc., a veg. growing area can
seem a little informal and the gardener may choose to box it around so
as to make it conform more to the general garden plan.

My point is that an area will not crop better just because it is at a
higher level than the rest of the garden. Raised bed gardening can be
done at any level, but it will only succeed if the necessary
horticulture is carried out. That can vary widely depending on many
factors, but mainly it implies: that the soil is not compacted by
treading, as it is with row cropping; the soil is kept in high fertility
by animal and/or green manuring, and by fresh composting; the crops are
rotated on a 3 or 4 year plan and they are cleared earlier rather than
later; the bed/s are rested in fallow after 3 or 4 crops have been taken
and they are kept free of perennial weeds (annual weeds can easily be
pulled out from the free soil, or chopped off to bio-degrade in situ.)

This is all very much easier to carry out than to describe. By these
means, an area can remain productive, healthy and simple to manage for
any length of time. Organic or non-organic methods can be followed, but
the system is more suited to organic growing.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.