black raspberries

I have a spot in my yard which, a Brazillion years ago, Matt & Petey made a raised bed for Mother's Day. Except we used pressure treated lumber. OOPS! so much for veggies!

So we lined it with heavy gauge plastic and went for it anyway,despite the potential for formaldehyde leaching-- It is planted mostly with perennial flowers (wild rose, black eyed susans, daisys, chickory, Queen Anne's lace and native grasses, some herbs that are there for my pleasure more than the kitchen. Stuff like Wormwood, basil, mint, chives--my witchy meadow. It looks like weeds--but the butterflies like the milkweed and the lavender; and I love watching the bees prowl around the overgrown mess. Isabel plopped a white pine seedling in there this spring. And it appears that this summer the raspberry cane Zoli planted about five years ago is producing fruit. They are small and seedy but kinda tasty. The original cane has grown over the whole box (six feet across at the mid section) and rooted itself into the soil on the other side. So we have a black raspberry arch and it is fun to nibble when I am watering the lawn. I would guess that if the wooden beams are now crumbling apart that any formaldehyde has dissipated and we can snack freely.