Raised beds

[gm2]

Okay. I am going to begin building our raised beds this year. I'm going to use kiln dried pine 1x12 stacked 2 high. I plan to cut everything to the size I need, char it heavily, and then soak it in some type of oil. The reason I want to do this is so I don't use pressure treated wood around things I intend to eat.

My question is this, what is the cheapest oil in large quantities that would absorb readily and help the wood resist rotting? So far mineral oil and linseed oil are what I have come up with. But I have no idea as to which one would be better or cheaper in large amounts.

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[helomech]

Wish I could help, but I used cinder blocks.

https://i.ibb.co/712c3v7/54799282-10205752761774520-1254571625177677824-n.jpg

[Illini Warrior]

plan on plenty of heavy duty bracing to keep everything in place - that ground pressure pushing against the bulkwards is unbelievable - personally I'd be looking at interlocking concrete landscaping >>> takes up more space and more $$$$ but it'll last longer and require less maintenance overall ...

[realist]

I agree that pressure treated does not belong in the eating garden. However you might want to check there maybe some nontoxic type wood you can use. That said I use redwood 2x12's for all of my boxes. I have eleven total and they are generally four feet by 12 to 16 foot long. Each of them have a welded aviary wire bottom to keep out the gophers. One of the boxes is two feet tall so I could plant my asparagus plants. In between all the boxes in the walkway are chips that keep the weeds down. I was going to put gravel down but that got shot down by my war department. I highly recommend using 2x12's. I'm not sure what type of oil you plan on using but I think that the thin wood will still breakdown. If you are still going that route I would lay them out in the sun to make sure they are good and dry to absorb the oil. I would research the different types of oils and how they hold up. Most still will breakdown with earth to wood contact. The way I did mine I want it to last. I have four old beds that are going on 20 years old. Additionally on top of the edge of the boards I put 2x6's so you can sit on them when weeding the bed. Good luck

[Sniper-T]

I've been using wood for my raised beds for over 10 years now, and have made anything from 2'x2' to 10'x10'. One piece of advise... smaller is better. I have decided that 2'x4' is the optimal (for me) it is easy to weed, keeps plants nicely spaced, and they grid together nicely with walkways in between. Best part, is that they remain strong enough to support the weight of the soil. The big ones bowed out and created a lot of stress on the joints and lasted only a few years.

I too experimented with different sealants in the beginning, but realized that nothing really worked against the soil; So I have left them untreated since. After a number of years(6-8), they start looking a little shabby, but by then the soil in them is essentially finished, so I bust them apart, burn the wood, relocate the soil to low areas in my yard, and build new boxes. This also allows me to refine and reshape my boxes for what I want to plant where (companion planting).

With this route, I have stopped buying expensive wood, and generally make my boxes out of recycled wood, that I typically get for free. Find a place that has scaped wooden pallets laying around and start collecting them. Keep an eye out for unpainted, untreated ones, and eye the wood critically, if they look stained, they 'may' have been used for a chemical, but probably 90% of the time they are good clean wood.

*Note: I have both stained and painted the OUTSIDE of my boxes for aesthetic purposes in my yard, but the outlying ones in my property I leave untreated... There is no real difference in how long they last, as they rot from the inside out due to the soil moisture.