How To Build Railroad Tie Garden

I'm going to jump right in here and talk about creosote and the dangers of railroad ties immediately because I know that's going to be the center of the conversation because just about everyone has heard that railroad ties are toxic. But how toxic? And at what extent is what we're hearing fear mongering and panic? And why, on earth, if there is any question at all, did I choose to use them around my vegetable garden? You all know me and know that I ere on the side of caution when it comes to my health.

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Upon extensive research this is what I know about creosote: The warnings and horrors when you read about it when you do a search on google is entirely based on HANDLING it, using wood that was JUST treated with it and being a worker in a plant that is TREATING lumber with it right now.

There is little said about wood that was treated a long time ago with creosote. Most people just think "Well, it could be toxic, why take the risk?" And that would normally be me too. However, the alternative to railroad ties for me right now was not at all affordable (cedar etc) and I really think that green treated lumber might be an even more toxic choice.

So, I found out how old the railroad ties I would be getting were (over a decade sitting outside in all the weather northern MN has to offer) and if you read through the panic and fear mongering out there the general consensus is thus:

"When they're that old they pose such a negligible risk that it is basically eating a non organic apple before washing it." Here is a Houzz forum that really helped me make the decision. Near the bottom of the forum someone posted this with links supporting their statement:

" … in 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency completed a reassessment … Testing determined that:
1. plant-based creosote has increasingly been used for this purpose since the early 1980's.
2. that its primary source of potential health risk is to the workers in the wood-treatment plants working with fresh mix but that even that risk is minimized by safe handling,
3. that creosote can be harmful to plants if it comes into direct contact with them … but plants will not absorb the substance into their root tissue in a garden or elsewhere.
4. … and creosote will generally not migrate far enough through the soil to reach plants that are a short distance away
5. and … you're unlikely to have more than short-term direct contact with creosote, and because plants don't absorb creosote through their roots, you won't be exposed to it by eating vegetables grown near treated timbers."

(Note: The poster mentioned "plant-based creosote" because it had been mentioned earlier and argued over in that forum. The newer plant-based creosotes that they are using on the majority of railroad ties now are far LESS toxic then the creosote that USED to be used on railroad ties that has caused the majority of the belief of their toxicity.)

A couple more links FYI:
Gardening question re: will old railroad ties kill me or not?
Are Railroad Ties OK to Use to Construct Vegetable Gardens?

In the end my determination was this: The fact that I chose to use green treated timber on my deck and EVER walk barefoot on it I believe posed a much greater health risk to me then using VERY old railroad ties for my vegetable garden.

On top of that I know people who are totally healthy who have used railroad ties in their yards and for their gardens for not just years but for literally DECADES.

This was my PERSONAL decision and I hope all that I've stated up to this point makes it very clear why I made this decision, you MUST do your own research and make your own choices for your family's health.

A new vegetable garden made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a garden. A new vegetable made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a .

Ok, so one Friday night very early this spring my husband (now ex husband) drove into the yard with the railroad ties. He drove as close to my concrete slab as he could. (The slab was used for cleaning off equipment years ago and then just looked odd sitting there by itself in front of the barn – made sense to me that it would be my garen.)

We stacked the railroad ties two tall and filled it halfway up with something I always have a lot of: HORSE POOP.

A new vegetable garden made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a . A new vegetable made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a . A new vegetable of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a .

After that I purchased 40 bags of organic top soil at the local fleet store ($1.79 a bag) to complete filling the whole garden. We then drove in 5″ torque screws to lash the railroad ties together as best we could.

These things were so heavy we really weren't exactly worried about them moving but thought we should provide at least something to help them stay in place. At nearly $3 a piece I only purchased and used 12 of those torque screws and used my Dewalt Impact driver to get them in.

A new vegetable made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a . A new vegetable garden made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a . A new vegetable made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a .

After that I headed for the barn and found four rough sawn 2x6s and one rough sawn 2×4 (thanks Grandpa!) to create my fence. Initially I had pouted quite a bit about putting a fence around the whole thing but after I got going on it my little garden began to look more and more like my Grandma's garden and, of course, I loved that.

With the posts in place (attached with six 4″ deck screws) I started wrapping my fence around it and tacking it down with fence nails and a hammer. This is pretty much as straight forward as it gets and is not at all difficult to do.

I will say to "wrap" the fence around your posts so it curls around the garden the same way it was rolled up (that helps a lot in wrangling it around) and keep it as tight as you can as you go.

I let it overlap down across the top railroad tie about two inches and tacked it down all along that edge to help keep rabbits out too. (I would have appreciated another set of hands but it only took me a couple of hours and was not at all hard to do.)

A new vegetable made of railroad ties and how I made the gate and put a fence around it. Balancing the choice of toxic railroad ties for a .

With both fence rows up all I needed to do then was build a little gate. I did this by cutting two 2x4s at four feet and two 2x4s the width of the gate opening (27 inches) and then stretching my fence over them.

To help keep the fence in place on the gate I sandwiched it between the top/bottom and side 2x4s and then also tacked it down with a couple of fence nails on either side before trimming the fence to fit the gate.

With that done I used hinges to put it up and, BOOM, all done!

This little vegetable garden of mine is not going to be winning any beauty contests but it certainly wasn't intended to. My wild life would have eaten my garden down to nothing so the fence will protect my hard work for years to come!