rail road ties for raised beds

I wan't exactly arguementing with your statement....but you did say "any" fertilizer in your original post, not "commerical" fertilzer. In Minnesota, as in many states, industrial/commerical wood ashes are provided to farmers for use as a liming material. I was trying to get the point across that many "organic" gardeners who would not think of using treated RR ties for raised beds would not hesitate to use wood ashes in their gardens....both contain creosote and other PAH compounds.

Whatever the case, don't worry about it. Creosote and other PAH compounds are not taken up by roots and translocated to the edible portion of the crop. The only likely way creosote will be consumed would be by eating unpeeled root crops.

If we had used RR ties available to us, we would definitely use them for raised beds.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Our flower beds at the front of the house are framed with old RR ties, two high. We haven't had any problem with anything growing around them. We don't grow much food in those beds, just a few herbs and once in a while a tomato plant, but I wouldn't have a problem with using them for food growing. However, as someone else said, when it's hot, you have to be careful where you sit or you'll get tar on you.

Kathleen

You can all get your weapons aimed at me and cock your triggers because...

in 1981 when I lived in the city 20' from a "highway" (okay, 4 lanes going slow but called a highway) where lead and other stuff had been setting in my yard for many years, I used deck boards manufactured before they took the "bad stuff out of pressure treating" to make raised beds for my veggie garden.

Spring ahead and I'm still very healthy, DS born in 1986 hasn't sprouted horns or had any health issues (well, he did have persistent ear infections until he was 2 but so did my father--indeed, my father, who is nearly 92, was raised on a dairy/chicken farm in upstate NY where they *gasp* spread chicken and cow manure and whatever was "waste" on the fields where they grew hay and corn to feed the animals had ear infections until he was 3, had tetanus at aged 14, a duodenal ulcer at aged 16, pleurisy at aged 17 then nothing more than hemorrhoids (aged 45) and wisdom teeth issues (aged 50).)

I would use free wood in a heartbeat but, then again, I seem to have good genes. If you don't...well...

We have had raised RR tie bads for our strawberries for years, and no problem here-they grow like crazy!

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I use cement blocks myself, simple easy to modify and move.

PHEEW- for a moment there, you had me worried! Then again, my folks always use their fireplace ashes in the veggie garden, and everyone makes it into their nineties...

Denali, I like your strawberry planters! Are those storebought, or something repurposed?

Nineties?!?!?! Well, creosote is a great preservative!

BTW, we use our woodstove ashes in the vegetable garden too.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Well, I liked the idea of very cheap rail road ties but (until yesterday when I tried to move a telephone pole) the railrioad ties are about the only thing I cannot move by myself! So I guess I will have to spend more and use some rough cut oak boards from the lumber yard. I'll use some 2 x 4's or 4 x 4's on the corners.
My garden area is 50 x 55. I have 8 fruit trees planted down there and garden in between the rows. I think I will put in raised beds and use additional boards to surround each tree then mulch everywhere else. I really hate weeds.

Has anyone ever had a soil sample test done on gardens that have used rr ties in the past?

Old RR ties would have absolutely no effect on the results of standard soil test parameters, which generally include:
texture
organic matter
pH
buffer pH
nitrate-nitrogen
extractable phosphorus
exchangeable potassium
cation exchange capacity
basic cations (calcium, maganesium)
soluble sulfur

Which one of these parameters would you expect RR ties to influence the results of?

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

I haven't seen any official studies about railroad ties but Forest Products Laboratory tested CCA lumber for years in various climates. After many years, they found little or no lateral movement of the arsenic. Rainfall only moved it down. I suspect that the same would apply to anything which may leach out of an old railroad tie.

Martin

Sorry for the thread drift, but I just have to ask...Denali! What are those upright planters made from? I can tell the bottom is a car wheel, and I thought the upright was rebar, but it looks like there's a hole at the top, and what are the tiered "baskets"?? I love those and would like to make some!

I also love your concrete block raised beds, kind of what I have in mind, except I want to make mine two blocks high.

Okay, back to the creosote discussion...sorry, but the only thing I know is my BIL used to work for a company that soaked the ties in the creosote before they were sold. He brought some home and used them for raised beds, and they grew tomatoes and squash. They seemed to do okay for Colorado. Not sure whether leaching was a problem or not, as my BIL was always strange! lol

I second that Forest- Great strawberry planters Denali. What are they made from?

I would consider this as an "each to his own" situation depending on the best facts and the individual circumstances. I'm offering these here, not for argument, but added facts if you can use them. I don't do raised beds, and the only place I would need structure is a slope to a second level--I built a stairway and deck combined there with treated lumber. (I needed the least pitch and a railing for safety, so RR ties were not considered.)

But I would ask, how would you be able to sit and work on the edge of a raised bed without getting the tar on your clothes? That's what I mean by each to his own.....

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/...e.asp?toxid=18

http://rebar.ecn.purdue.edu/ect/link.../recyrail.aspx

geo

They don't stay sticky forever. I helped a neighbor with several terraces some years back. The ties were still in very good shape but were dry. Just walked over to look at them and still can't see a drop of wet creosote.

Martin

I think Denali's strawberry planters justify a valid thread hijack. Please share your wisdom with us. They look like large bunt cake pans???