railroad ties

[jennywatt]

I bought a new home this winter with a fantastic section of the backyard divided off for a garden. the only problem is that it is sectioned off using railroad ties. i have heard in the past these are the worst thing for gardens because of the carcinegens they contain. is there anyone with insight or advice for me? i have always had vegetable gardens! i can't have my edibles sucking up chemicals!

[jenniferde]

My fellow co-workers and I were just talking about this the other day. I live in the country with well water. One of my co-workers has a raised bed garden with rail road ties in the city. She has had her garden for a couple years with no problems. Now, she recommened that I try this and well as another co-worker. My other co-worker checked into it and found that if you use well water it will pull the chemicals out of the wood and into your veggies. She said that treated wood would do the same thing with well water. I am by far no expert and I am going off of word of mouth. Both these ladies have been gardening since I was born so I am going to trust their advice and I am not going to be putting wood around my garden. Hope someone else can help as well!