[Greenbuilding] best lumber for raised vegetable beds

[RT]

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:15:07 -0400, Lawrence Lile <LLile at projsolco.com>  
wrote:

> Do you mean Cedar, as in Eastern Red Cedar, the common Midwest Weed tree  
> which will sprout up in any abandoned field?  I was wondering how that  
> stuff lasts in earth contact.

Shaking out the dust from the cobwebs of my wet drive, I'm pretty sure  
that "Eastern Red Cedar" isn't really a cedar at all and is actually a  
juniper.

The "Eastern cedar" is "White Cedar", the wood being more yellow than it  
is white.

The foilage on the "Eastern Red Cedar" (juniper, the berries of which are  
good for making gin) is prickly whisker-like stuff that you (okay me ...  
don't know what a crazy Murrican would do) wouldn't want to make a bed out  
of) whereas the foilage of the Eastern White Cedar is soft, wide, flattish  
stuff that would make very nice bedding.

Eastern white cedar is the most common species used for fenceposts and  
rails in Ontario and Quebec.

It's typically the 8 inches or so at grade (above and below) where the rot  
eventually occurs.

The part that's deep in the ground that stays wet is fine and the part  
that's way above grade will weather over the decades but it too will be  
fine.

There are (white) cedar rail fences and log cabins around here that have  
been around since the land was cleared by the original settlers.

Another technique for preserving the portion of the posts that will be in  
ground contact is charring. ie next time you have a campfire and are  
toasting some marshmallows, toss in some of your lumber when you're done.

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a >
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