I was just going to ask the same question! I hope someone responds soon so i can go shopping. :)

g'day,

we don't bother with anything for edges, if we did we probably look at using corrogated roofing in some way, over here there are those who make stand alone bed frames out of it and sell them.

our preffered material for filling the beds is spent mushroom conmpost from the farm.

see our presentations for more ideas. hope this helps?

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens straw bale garden

I used untreated pine, it's cheap and has held up fine so far

I used something called "TufBoard" which is sold as fascia at my local Home Depot. It's a composite, but nontoxic, quite rigid, and really nice to work with.

I have heard not to use anything chemically treated in case the chemical leaks into the vegetable bed.

That used to be true when CCA treated lumber was arsenic based. But that is no longer the case (since 2003). Many of the new chemically treated lumbers available are USDA approved for use around the gardens. Some still object to it but many do use it. Your choice.

Concrete blocks is another option often recommended in the many previous discussions of this question as is the corrugated metal Len mentioned. Old railroad ties is another. Decorative stone is another. There are also several new plastic composite boards available - but expensive.

Dave

Here's three different ways I do it...
Depends how much you want to spend ;-)

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You can see the roofing metal to the left of the Sun Gold Tomato plant,that makes up this raised bed

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