I am replacing some of my raised bed untreated timbers and decided to try heat treating the replacements by cooking up a mixture of vegetable oil and ceder shavings and cooking it into the untreated spruce to see how it may work to keep insects out of the border planking. My other idea is a bit of fire ant bait cooked into the oil for treatment. Has anyone tried this ?

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 28, 2002

Answers

I've treated lumber by soaking it it water with dissolved borax. It worked pretty good.

I was just reading something the other day about coating them with a mixture of oil(?) and wax as a preservative. I'll search and see if I can find that article.

-- Laura S. (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 30, 2002.

why not just use creosote? or paint/stain them?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.coms), March 30, 2002.

how about black locust, it is supposed to last 100 yrs (untreated) as fence posts?

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Stan,

I thought of creosote also, but am concerned about leaching from that also. I have used creosote fence posts here and noticed the grass wouldn't grow within six inches of them. If it did that with my raised beds, the planting area would be reduced by 25 percent. Also , I am trying to set up the beds to qualify as organic production and am still trying to evaluate all the requirements. I hope that the higher sale prices will offset the increased production costs.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

cider blocks?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 30, 2002.

Stan,

I like the cinderbocks also, however, I'm in the "homesteader dilemia" .... 106 free 12 ft untreated spruce 1x6s, salvaged from foundation forms, delivered to me by a former coworker who felt that through inaction, he was responsible for my termination from my previous job.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

Id stain them then,, free stuff is free stuff, make the "buddy" feel real guilty,, and get him to buy the stain also (LOL)

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 30, 2002.

Jay: I'd try the borax first, the fire ant stuff second and just plain pine tar pitch next. The veggie oil is just going to attract bugs and other critters. al

-- al (yr2012@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

linseed oil.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

I used all of my old cooking oils on my garden frames and along the bottom of the wood fences, it doesn't attract bugs, it does attract attention from the dogs, if applied hot to dry wood it soaks it quickly and last for years it also kills weeds and it is free.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

Okay, it was turpintine blended with melted parrafin applied with a brush.

-- Laura S. (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 31, 2002.

Thanks for the input. I think I may try all of them to evaluate the best. I got enlightened today, my co-worker is more scared for his job than guilty. He wants to learn to BISF (and these guys laughed at me when we we at the plant, go figure :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.