Need some knowledgeable in-put

[LA47]

When we put new siding up on the house this year the contractor recommended a hard, closed cell insulation board. It is covered on the two sides with a water resistant substance that looks like concrete.We found out that we can get 4'x8'x2" sheets very inexpensive. The insulation is rated at R 6 per inch. It is very strong and we were thinking of making our raised veggie beds out of it. I am planning on lining the beds with heavy plastic as I don't know what the coating is made of and I don't want to contaminate my soil. What are your opinions of using this?

[dustyrivergardens]

I agree you don't want some of them chems leaching into your garden beds.

[applestar]

I think you can usually find material safety data on any construction material which may include what it is made of.

[LA47]

After doing a lot of research on HG I think we have decided to go with raised (not boxed) beds, digging down the walkway and using that soil to raise the beds higher. Instead of compost bins we'll use wood chips (DH has a wood chipper) and top with straw to help the wood chips compost faster. We will mulch the beds with straw also. At the beginning of gardening season each year we'll pull the composted mulch from the paths and pull it up on the beds then start the whole process over again. We talked it over and think that this method would suit our age, strength, and agility. I think I even talked DH into no till gardening once we get our soil improved. What do you think of our plan? Do you have any suggestion for improvements?

[rainbowgardener]

I like your plan. If I had more space, it is what I would probably do.

I do have some concern about the wood chips. If they are just on top, preferably not even touching the soil, like with a layer of straw in between, not bad. But if wood chips are mixed in to your soil, they suck up a whole bunch of Nitrogen in the process of breaking them down. Can deplete the soil of N.

You could consider just piling up your wood chips somewhere and letting them break down for a year before putting them on your beds.

[DoubleDogFarm]

In fact, nitrogen tie-up was not seen in the Marcellus study, which greatly surprised the
researchers. Since the study was done on a rich Honeoye soil which was initially high in
SOM, enough nitrogen may have been released to overcome any tieup that occurred.
More work needs to be done to clarify this. The Quebec researchers also indicate that
there is no N-tieup if the ramial is applied in the fall. However, trying ramial out in my
garden, I observed apparent N-tieup for 2 seasons. If chips are used as a mulch on the
soil surface and not tilled in, nitrogen tie-up is not a problem. Over the years a rich black
soil develops under such a mulch. As they break down, typical hardwood chips release
about 4 lb. of N, 2 lb. of phosphate, and 4 lb. of potash per ton, as well as calcium and
micronutrients.
If chips are tilled in, a good practice is probably to apply about 10 lb of nitrogen for each
ton of wood chips applied; perhaps ½ to one ton of compost for each ton of chips.

https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/Pubs/W ... uction.pdf

[Jardin du Fort]

LA, I think that it would be great to put the wood chips in the paths for a season, along with the straw, in order to begin composting before moving them up to the beds. It will help keep the paths un-muddy, and not leach the nitrogen from the garden.

That's my plan as well, as I have a ready supply of sawdust.

[LA47]

I was thinking that about 2 or 3 inches in the pathways with 4 to 6 inches of straw would mostly decompose the wood chips in a year, at least as long as we are keeping the straw and wood chips damp. It would sure make less of a mess when the paths were wet. I realize what fresh wood chips do to a garden. I did all the gardening other that tilling until 4 years ago. I told DH I wanted a 'little' wood chips for the garden. Before I could stop him, he tilled in over SIX inches! Even adding nitrogen didn't help the garden for the next year. He believes if a little does good then a LOT will do better. I don't believe in chemicals, he does. He is slowly coming around but it's been a battle.

[Royiah]

If your doing that then you'll probably like this movie.
https://backtoedenfilm.com/about/index.html
And here's a link to watch it online.
https://vimeo.com/28055108
I recently watched it and I'm gonna try it out!

[mattstern]

we created our beds similarly, digging out the paths and building up the beds, though we haven't put any chips in the paths yet.

Thanks for that link, it looks worthwhile.