How safe is treated pine?

Having had sections of a new salvaged Jarrah post and rail fence fall over within a year thanks to termites, and seen a friends lovey painted but otherwise untreated pine pergola also disintegrate within a year , I would like to use treated pine for structures but hear conflicting stories as to its saftey. I was told by a chemist once that the toxic treatment mixture is rendered inert and doesn’t leach once applied to wood. He had used it throughout his garden. I just found some good info on this subject that may be useful to anyone making the big effort to create permaculture structures. Certainly we want these projects to endure so something must be done to protect  against termites. Pine is a renewable resource and I think better environmentally than using native timber or steel. Apparently "a small amount" of chemicals do leach out. I would avoid using treated pine in wet or irrigated areas, but  be comfortable  using it   (for fencing say)  in  high and dry areas of the property only.  Treated pine  should also be fine in above ground applications where people and animals don't usually have physical contact. You can also paint over it for extra security.  

CCA preservative

CCA treated timber (also commonly called tanalised timber) contains copper, chromium and arsenic, which is a toxic chemical mixture but is relatively inert once fixed in the timber. However, it is not recommended in skin contact use such as children’s playground equipment and hand rails. Treatments such as ACQ and copper azole do not have the chrome and the arsenic but the higher levels of copper increase the corrosion potential with steel and galvanised steel fixings.

Use and handling

• Carry out all cutting, sanding and so on outside.
• Wear a filter mask, safety glasses and gloves when cutting and sawing.
• Take particular care when the timber surface is wet or has crystalline chemical deposits on it.
• Clean up (timber scraps, sawdust) thoroughly afterwards.
• Dispose of waste to an approved (municipal) waste disposal area.
• Do not compost or mulch waste.
• Do not burn waste.
• Wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking.
• Wash exposed areas of your body after working with treated timber.
• Wash work clothes separately from other clothes.

Environmental effects

Small quantities of chemicals can leach out over time so it should not be used where it may come into contact with public drinking water.  Thanks to working with treated timber website

Wicking bed

Merri Bee Organic Farm  is creating a natural system of perennial abundance to satisfy human needs in food, shelter, energy , community and wilderness, whilst restoring a cleared and overgrazed piece of rural land. Our farm is designed as a ‘closed loop’ in which the yields and by-products of one system are used to satisfy the needs of another, constantly circulating nutrients and harvesting water and energy via multiple elements. We aim to protect soil biodiversity and its many ecological functions. We are exploring and demonstrating these principles, educating and inspiring people to perpetuate the building of sustainable infrastructure. An example of this is

wicking beds

  We set up a wicking bed in a hurry recently to demonstrate how little water it takes to grow veges in this set up The growth has been phenomenal.... lettuce seedlings of the same size were planted in an adjacent, well watered and composted garden. The garden has had to be watered ( with a butterfly sprinkler ) once a week , the wicking bed only once a month. The lettuce in the wicking bed are 3 times the size of the garden lettuce. We dug a 150 ml deep level pit, lined it with black plastic and laid a 90 ml old storm water pipe we found at the tip on that .

We had previously cut numerous slots in the pipe and positioned the slots downwards, so the pipe won’t fill up with dirt. We put a plastic bag and a rubber band over the end of the pipe. Conveniently the pipe from the tip came with a 90 degree bend  ( elbow ) attached. We inserted another length of pipe in it, and set that up vertically. That’s your water filling pipe. We  then surrounded the pipe with small rocks at one end and woodchips at the other.

The woodchips were much lighter and easier to work with . I will see which end works best for the longest time. So you now have the 150 ml pit filled with aggregate which creates big air spaces between chunks, which will often be full of water. The aggregate essentially holds up the soil above. Place a thick layer of leaves or grass clippings , or a sheet of shade cloth on top of the woodchips or rocks. Then fill the bed with good soil and compost mix to a 350 ml depth. It can be up to 400 deep but no more, as the water can only wick up to a height of 400 or so. 350 is deep enough for most root zones. A drainage hole is essential at the level of the shadecloth. Otherwise a down pour or forgotten hose running would result in waterlogged plants. Which will die. You then hose or bucket water into your plastic lined gravel or wood chip-filled reservoir , via the fill pipe  until  water starts emanating from the drainage hole . In the event of a down pour, this drainage pipe or hole will ensure the soil doesn’t become waterlogged. In our case, water just begins leaking out at ground level (where the plastic liner emerges)  when the reservoir is full. I like the fact I can go away and pick some parsley while the running hose fills the reservoir. If I get carried away birdwatching the excess water will only benefit plants down hill of the bed.

After all this work and materials, plant your seedlings and water them in as usual.

 Prepare to be amazed as they thrive without any further attention from you for at least a month. That’s what we found, and we certainly hadn't had much rain. See pics of the plants in the wicking bed just one month later, compared to the pale undersized lettuce in garden ( which had been watered with over head sprinkler every second day) My photography sucks, but I hope you can see the bigger and lusher growth in the wicking bed. Tried to deliver same amount of compost to both lots of plants also. I think the sprinkler watered lettuce bolted to seed soon after the picture was taken.

We want to experiment with  wicking beds as a grey water treatment system,  having trickled it first through a rock column then through a wicking bed planted with reeds  to remove nutrients . The reeds could be used for mulch. 

 A google search will reveal many different types of wicking beds and no doubt YOU will come up with great innovative ideas we would love to hear! My friend Tash Levy has successfully used bentonite clay instead of a plastic liner. We will be following her lead on our next one, as it is more natural and less toxic to manufacture and use than plastic. Thanks Tash!

 Update! EDMP plastic is safer than PVC. Pond liners of EDM or butyl rubber would be of the safest kind of plastic and possibly worth the extra expense. We will also incorporate a worm feeding station for disposal of vege scraps.

Every home in arid lands should have a wicking bed! 

Here is some further great info from Rob and Michelle Avis in Alberta Canada: http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-05-31/bottom-diy-guide-wicking-beds

How Wicking Beds Work

A wick works through capillary action – the same force you observe when you dip a piece of tissue paper partially into a glass of water and watch the water climb the paper.  Wicking occurs in many materials; cotton, wool, geo-textile, soil, gravel and even wood to some degree. Every material has different wicking properties which you can test by placing that material into a glass of water and watching the water “climb” up. When one end of the wick is saturated and the other end is dry, it creates a moisture gradient, which drives the wick until the gradient no longer exists or you run out of water. With the earth box, one of the more popular examples in North America, the soil is suspended above the reservoir with wicks dangling into the reservoir pulling up moisture. As the plants use the moisture in the soil, it creates a moisture gradient (the soil is drier than the reservoir) which drives moisture through the wick into the soil.

Advantages of Wicking Beds

Wicking beds have a lot of advantages over standard raised beds and in-grown swale-based gardens:

·         They are water-efficient! Watering from the bottom up prevents evaporation of surface water (which occurs when you water beds from the top).

·         They are self-watering! Wicking beds are an especially great system to use in community gardens because they save people from driving every day during hot weeks to water their beds. A full wicking bed should irrigate itself for about a week.

·     

·         No evaporation means no salting of soil. If you are watering your soils from the top with slightly water, you risk accumulating salts, because the water evaporates and leaves the minerals behind. Eventually your soil will struggle to support plant life.

·         They provide a lot of drainage in the event of a large downpour.

·         Since they're raised, they will warm up quicker in the spring.

·         You can easily attach cold frames or shade sails or birdnets to them.

·         They are great for people with less mobility/flexibiity.

·         

Disadvantages of Wicking Beds 

·         Are few!    *They cost more in time and perhaps materials to create than ordinary garden beds .

                * You can forget to water them altogether !
   UPDATE 

Our first wicking bed is going well, devoted to strawberries now. Second one has had a major problem.. I HAVE TO FIND TIME TO EXCAVATE  a large amount of soil out and see what is going on, because the reservoir always has water in it, it isnt going anywhere, but the soil is dry. Somehow poplar roots from a nearby huge tree have also  invaded it ,without piercing the plastic obviously, maybe through the jarrah sleeper joints?  So it is all a mystery.

 I have done a small wicking bed  lined with clay, it is going very well . I think the reservoir need filling more often and certainly doesn’t hold water for more than half a day but I think that means I didn’t use solid enough clay. It has a certain amount of sand in it. I used bentonite (as in no name brand kitty litter) , dry, as a layer over the wet clay, to faciitate a light pounding of the clay "pond liner" . It stopped my pounder getting heavy with sticky wet clay.

 Even though it only holds water for a few hours it is long enough for the soil above to wick it up. And for some reason, it doesn’t dry out for a week in high summer. No doubt during the other 3 quarters of the year it will  barely  need water.  I did put quality aerobic compost in at a rate of about 50 %. The strawberrys in this mini wicking bed with glass viewing window are growing well.

C Could there be problems with anaerobic conditions in the bottom layer of soil near the water reservoir? The rules are that you look down the pipe every few days and check the water level. You should only water again when the pipe has been dry for 1 to 3 days. If people are experiencing problems with anaerobic conditions they may be over watering.  

In our non wetting soil, the major advantage to wicking beds is being able to drop the hose going full bore  into a big pipe and go off and do something else for 5 minutes while it fills. You know the water is going right where your intended plant recipients are, and they are  going to get every drop. It is not going to grow weeds, the water isnt germinating weeds. 

  Anything that save us water and time is worthwhile in my book.

U

Maarten Stapper's talk at Permaculture Convergence

I just adore Maarten Stapper and here he is in full flight. Tune in for a great rundown on the best methods of soil improvement currently known to science. Maarten was once married to woman who, like him, worked at the CSIRO.  But unlike him, she was into genetic engineering. She remains on  a great salary no doubt  whilst Martenn  was sacked for his anti GM views. I am glad he is out of that those relationships and is sharing his vast knowledge and passion for soil science and organic growing with us.
 Thank you  and bless you Maarten         .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzEYLKhIJt8&feature=related

Swales

Connect the dots: Signs of Global warming are being seen all over Earth

•Sea level rise

•Drying....Lakes have disappeared. Wells and springs drying

•Heat waves

•Cold snaps

•Floods

•Tornadoes and cyclones

•Fires…intensity & frequency

•Snow seasons failing

•Glacial melt

In the South West of Western Australia a drying climate is leading to noticeable lower productivity. The sun is more intense leading (in our garden at least) sunburn on harvested onions and garlic, berries, capsicums  etc. It is much hotter , dryer and more humid in the last 5 years. We've been here for nearly 29 years with our hands in the soil most days.
  Soil erosion occurs when grass cover is sparse and rain events are so spread out....soil is lost when isolated rain events or wind dislodges dry uncovered soil. Deserts are growing globally. 75 billions of tons of topsoil are lost from the arable lands of Earth annually. In many places the old people now live in arid zones with little vegetation , but remember trees and their fruits and nuts of the district.  However SWALES (  dead level ditches on contour ) slow and sink the water. They can green the  desert and we must install them over vast areas. They harvest rain and make a deep wet zone where trees can establish .

Swales    
For Erosion control, Water harvesting, tree establishment.
OF course Trees are vital to a safe climate in the following ways: 

.•Carbon sequestration ….occurs when trees are actively growing .

• Shade, shelter, windbreak…

•Habitat and protection  for birds, insects, mammals   Such biodiversity is biological pest control. Plagues are reduced.

•Trees  cycle water :    transpiring  moisture  during the day  and condensing moisture on their leaves at night. They also provide  organic particles which seed clouds to make rain. Belts of trees on ridges are responsible for orographic rain due to the "lift" of the clouds up over them.. And more. Forty percent of rainfall is due to forests. Clear the forest and rainfall will reduce by 40 %. This effect will be fairly immediate. Though it takes much longer to put trees back they will increase precipitation dramatically once established. Obviously we need to get tough survivors of the tree world in the ground without delay in the current climate emergency.

. Mulch/litter/  collector.  
This soil cover= carbon rich humus
 formation=  for every 1 % rise in carbon
 level , a soil it will have 4 times more water-holding capacity!! 

•Rehydration of  the landscape 
( fungi / root mass/above ground biomass, soil biota are all mostly water)

•Permanent Springs  and Creeks flow once more

•Productivity through cash crops  eg fruit /nuts/animal products (extra fodder) / timber sales 

If you live in an area with only a 600 mm a year average rain fall, that means on every square meter of earth,  600 litres of rain will fall in an average year. That is the equivalent of  3 of those blue 200 litre drums full of water for each meter square!!   But sadly hardly any of that water gets into the soil. As with irrigation , most water runs off to the sea.
In the wonderful words of Bill Mollison

" In most countries 80% of rainfall runs off or evaporates. Thus only 12% is available for agriculture or domestic needs. We must legislate for the construction of thousands of miles of swales on farms, as large contour ditches that fill in every heavy rain (more than 10mm/day). In 3 to 6 hours, such water soaks in, and is immune to evaporation or run off. This water , over years and centuries, feeds tree roots, springs and valley streams. Swales enable forests, and forests are both passive condenses of night air, and active cloud generators or rainfall. If we clear the ridges, 40% of orographic rain ceases. If we clear the plains, most condensation and clouds fail to form. Thus, swales precede forests. Forests precede precipitation."

This is the swale we dug in March 2010, after a few months. Even though 2010 had  a half average rainfall, the grass in the swale grew twice as high as surrounding grass. We have found trees we planted in  and on either side of the swale have grown very well with hardly any irrigation. The trees will soon contribute shade, transpiration, leaf litter, habitat and thus manure of birds, insects and mammals. . 

To install swales you have to mark out contour lines. Stew dug these  with a tractor, leaving a soft mound of earth on the contour line. The contour of the land is a line which joins all  points of equal height above sea level. Every point on the marked line of 100 m 


elevation  on a contour map is 100 m above mean sea level.        I.e. A swale is dead level .  Water is simply held in the swale till it infiltrates the soil. This may take half an hour or a few days depending on soil type. It has no choice but to  enter the soil . Photo at left is of 5 recently installed swales at Merri Bee Organic Farm.  During isolated rain events  55 tonnes of water  enter the landscape through these swales as opposed to running off  to the Blackwood river and escaping to the sea. Instead of flood and drought scenarios, swales and attendant vegetation mean year round water in the environment.  

 Unlike a swale,  a DRAIN  directs water and causes it to flow ( into a dam for instance)because it  has a slight fall, usually 1 : 1000 ( eg. drops one meter of a distance of 1000 meters. ) You can see contour lines on Google maps .  Type in an address, then choose the terrain option when in map  (not  Satellite). Sometimes you have to zoom out or in to get terrain.

Here's the swales 6 months later in September. Fabulous growth which will be mown down and to make mulch around the tiny trees we have planted. Really Cool. Cows will graze the 18 meter strip of grass between  swales. An  electric wire will keep them off the trees. Will have to move them daily but the soil improvement and their happiness will be worth it. 

Into our 7 month without meaningful rain, and heatwaves from November on, and the swales aren't looking too bad.
Here is a list of stock fodder trees we have planted on swales : . So  acacias and tagasastes  are interspersed with the long term trees. Fodder species include tagasaste, bamboo, carob, oak, sheoak, comfrey, saltbush, honeysuckle, coprosma, willow, poplar, ash, mulberry, grape, fig, apple, stone fruit, ivy, kurrajongs ACACIA microbotrya ( Manna wattle) Mulga ( acacia Aneura) ACACIA saligna , Wilga (Geijera parviflora,) maple. Note that most of these except the bamboo will dampen a bushfire because they are flame retardant.  Belts of trees not only provide high quality browse but shade and shelter, salinity and erosion control, clean air and water in the landscape . 

 

4 minute explanation of Genetic Engineering . Share please!

Really great short clip that explains the GE issue very well. Plase share this link with everyone you know.  http://youtu.be/zcTNmCUMZ7c

Raising seedlings

Seeds and seedlings  …Nursery Work for the time poor.

Making compost is hardly ever a chore for me , I get so turned on by the process of putting together annoying and maybe stinky waste products to create something so valuable they call it black gold.

However one tedious chore for me is pricking out numerous little seedlings into pots to grow on to a robust 3 or 4 inch high seedling. Perhaps it is because I know that only half of them will survive…..rats, chickens, a 40 degree day . In fact why do I bother at all? Well you have to , because lets Face Facts  , you cant eat supermarket “food”, and purchased mass produced  seedlings are weak as …very poor success rate with them and of course not at all kosher regards organic certification.

Why don’t you just plant seeds in the garden?  Well , at the magically precious  but sadly short times of Autumn and spring you can do just that, because its raining. In winter slugs are a menace and seedlings grow so slowly often get smaller not bigger. In summer however, You need to water the whole big garden every day , possibly 3 times a day, to get the seeds to germinate. I like to concentrate all that time and energy into a small area called the nursery, where a plastic house provides shade and humidity and many seedlings can be raised with a lot less water spent.

Garden irrigation is best done deeply and infrequently, otherwise you can end up with a depth of only  50 ml wet and dry underneath. This leads to shallow roots. Our gardens have finally developed marvellous soil to a depth of 300 m or more , because it is rich in carbon it is a sponge like material which absorbs and holds moisture well. I try to water it deeply only once a week even in summer.  This leads to big deep root systems which will enable a plant to survive for many days should something go wrong like a broken pump or a broken leg.

So , at Merri Bee Organic Farm we have developed some ideas on nursery chores that work for us in our extreme climate . We first build a hot house to keep soil and plants from drying out. In winter, when it is theoreticaly raining it may  simply be 4 walls with a door in one, open to the sky and the rain somewhat like a large tree guard but for the long hot summer a plastic and shade cloth house is required:

Level an area big enough to enable 2 benches and a gangway down the middle, maybe a third bench across the end opposite the door. One idea is to obtain 4 blue drums from a recycling depot, the 200 litre types . Place them so that they will hold up your working surface. We have been known to use old bedframes for the benches  and also old pallets, a discarded  old dunny door, a simple bunch of planks. What ever you use, it must be able to constant water applications and be fairly level and even for your seed trays to sit on. A comfortable working height bench is essential.

For thermal mass we fill the drums with water  which moderates the temperatures inside the green house. Would be good to also create a high thermal mass floor by first laying some insulation on the ground ( we used an old doona wrapt in black plastic) over which you may lay some concrete slabs or pebbles. A simple structure of big black polly pipe pushed onto star pickets  in hoop formation , covered in UV stabilized plastic ( whatever you do don’t waste vast sums on that reinforced with mesh style plastic that comes on a roll in green and white at the hardware….it doesn’t last long at all) will complete the structure. Weigh down the plastic at the sides well by either burying it in a trench or putting heavy eights on it…remember  you could have just made a big kite should  it get windy!

To have used old shade house frames we bought through the paper from peoples backyards for $100.00. We slit poly pipe lengthwise and pushed it onto the frame to secure the plastic around the door frame. Another idea  we have patented  ;) is to squash 12 ml trickle pipe flat and tech screw it on to the frame, sandwhiching the plastic which is pulled tight as you go. Of course my readers are ever so resourceful and will overcome any challenges I am sure.

 As you will be going in and out carrying seedtrays and old breadbaskets  full of dirt and plants, a  nice door is worth constructing, especially if you are keeping critters like chooks out. Once again Mitre 11 ( the tip) is handy for old flyscreen doors you can work with.

Last but by no means least you need an irrigation set up on a timer. This is an absolute must . You need fairly good water pressure. Don’t repeat our mistake of making this wonderful hot house at the top of a hill where our water pressure is poor so a timer cant be used.  We built another glass house down the hill just so the timer tap could be used. Best $40.00 I ever spent was on the  timer tap. We set it to turn on a mister for one minute, 3 times in every 24 hour period. Luxury for the forgetful, busy or just plain slack.

Have ready a piece of shade cloth to cover the whole thing in summer. Take it off in autumn, apply again in spring. Once again, weight it down appropriately.

Ok , you have the 5 star plant accommodation sorted.

 Now for the potting mix.

On a hard surface mix the following together:

2 parts Coco-peat (comes in a dried and pressed block)
1 part Course sand (washed)
1 part Compost
1 part Mushroom compost (if you can get it – ordinary compost if not – we use our home made which is not quite as soil like as the commercial stuff)
1 part Worm castings

I don’t always have the coco peat and the mushroom compost and instead I use dirt from chook pens.It usually has no weed seed in it .Very important  point when planting onion seeds, believe me.

 Briefly mix all previously moistened ingredients together.  I was told once and tend to believe that it isn’t good to mix or otherwise “work”  wet soil. I prefer to hose  big pot fulls  of the components and allow them to drain, then mix them together ever so briefly I . Then pack  it into a standard 40 ml deep small seed trays.  I try to have a stack of these ready so I can throw seeds into them should I be about to miss the proper moon planting time for the various seeds.

Once the seeds come up, while they are still tiny,  dig  them out with a bread and butter knife a few at a time, leaving as much dirt  around them with as least disturbance  as possible, and pot them into half toilet rolls filled with rich  compost y soil. Pack the toilet rolls into some container which will hold them upright, and make sure the container has a few drainage holes. Water them in well soon after planting. A few weeks later when these seedlings are  about  2 inches high, plant them into the garden still in their cardboard cylinder. This is normally a dicey procedure , especially in hot weather ( where upon evening is the best time to act) , but by planting the whole thing there is no transplant shock at all. If you leave them too long in these toilet rolls your healthy seedlings  will run out of  nutrient and start yellowing a bit.

Mulch the bed well, plant your plants in holes dug in the mulch, water well and you should be harvesting something soon.  Best of luck .

Tony Rinoudo's work can be seen from space. Plant rain today!

This is  a talk by a  beautiful man Tony Rinoudo from World Vision. Watch part one  by starting at the 8 minute mark. ( the first 8 minutes is dum as they cant get the sound working) which shows what they are up against then go on to part 2 . Its just such an awesome, uplifting, true story.

“Plant the rain and the plants will plant themselves”

“Mr Tony, we are too much happy” . http://www.livestream.com/ipc10/video?clipId=pla_dc28440f-730f-4b64-ad58-51757633e132&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Millions of world vision dollars were getting no where, and Tony nearly gave up , but then he noticed something vital…………