Tainted Soil

 I initially built my raised vegetable garden with treated lumber.  I
know, I know...  please save your darts; I am already wounded and
require no additional flogging.  I read multiple sources that said it
was okay, but in retrospect the only ones I recall that okayed it were
the government and the companies that produce treated lumber.
Everyone else says it's not worth the risk (or much harsher things).

So, that said, my garden has been around about two years.  I'm going
to replace the wood borders this weekend (if anyone has a
cost-effective alternative, I'm all ears -- I like the pastic lumber
but can't find anyone that sells it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area),
but my next question is regarding the soil.  Is it tainted, or can it
be salvaged?  It's good stuff, too.

A local expert here says its possible to 'detox' the soil with
something called NORIT (also mentions something called zeolite), but I
don't know:

1.  What that is
2.  Where to get it
3.  Will that really work, or should I toss the soil along the border
and start anew?

Also, depending on the cost, it may actually be more cost effective to
remove the [potentially] tainted soil and start anew.

I'm really bummed.  I've been eating these vegetables for two years...

Thanks,
Chris

 Christopher Hamel wrote:


Tar is nontoxic; paint untreated, preferably unplaned wood with that.

Or use stone borders.

Brick won't work if you have frost; it'll crumble after the third or so
winter.

If you're in more southern climates you could always get a nice low box
(Buxus) border; they're pretty and they keep things in. Up here they're
impossible; up here, even Taxus plants are difficult to keep alive, let
alone have them look good as a cut-to-size low border.

Another thing to contemplate would be willow; but willow, if planted,
_will_ take over, and if woven into barriers is a lot of work (and an
unbelievable amount of basket willow branches) that needs redoing every
three years, as the old ones crumble.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG                         Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage:    http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed
Best of RHOD:              http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/rhod

 

I used Cinderblock.
Cheap, and permanent. ;-)

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&include=0&userid=katra

 (snip)

I tried cinderblocks, but didn't like a few things about them. They tend to wick
water from the beds and they are very uncomfortable to work around. I don't have
any "border" around my beds right now, but they're not really raised either. I
planned on raised beds, but once I got most of these Ozark rocks out of the beds
I had sunken beds. Adding organic matter and not compacting the soil has left me
with beds that are pretty much level with the surrounding soil.

 Chris
At a web site at noble.org they do alot of testing on raised beds and they
do have beds of treated wood and do not beleive it causes any harm. They
also make raised beds out of old tires where they cut off the side walls and
use the rest of the tire as wall bolting several tires together to make a
long length and holding it up with rebar. Go to there site and you will find
several good posts. Also one of there men Steve U. answered my emails
several times about treated wood and also hoop houses
Harold