My twin brother built these last weekend. I love that he stained the wood blue. Jealous me! I can’t wait until he puts in some plants/flowers/veggies/fruit…He works at a Nursery in Berkeley, California. So he will know HOW IT’S DONE.
I think so too. Berkeley summer is kind of brown outside, so the blue will be such a grand surprise when surrounded by no summer color. I love his idea! Thank you for the compliment! ~amy
Yanic, I have no idea what kind of stain he used. But he runs a nursery, so I’m sure he checked out what stain to use. He lives in Oakland California…a very dry, dusty place…I will ask him for you if you’d like. ~amy
He wrote back yesterday!! This is what he wrote, “It’s Benjamin Moore’s ‘Arborcoate’ exterior stain. It is 100% Acrylic Latex which is water-based. One of the least toxic stains you can buy. Oil-based would be ones to avoid. We asked the sales person the risk of using this on a garden bed with food products in it & he said once it’s dry, there shouldn’t be any significant leaching. The beds are pretty big & the soil drains really well so I try to avoid even getting the sides wet.I did stain all sides of the wood, I realized afterwards I could have just stained the outside…I’m really not concerned though. They look great as is.” Jason does live in Oakland, CA. which is a pretty dry place except for winter. So maybe you could just stain the outside, top edge & two inches down? I hope this helps & if you do stain yours, I would LOVE to see it! ~amy
2me4art 
What a great job. Nice blue.
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He did do a great job. I love them. Berkeley is so blah in the summer…the blue with act as a beacon. Thank you, Gretchen. ~amy
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The blue looks absolutely gorgeous.
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I think so too. Berkeley summer is kind of brown outside, so the blue will be such a grand surprise when surrounded by no summer color. I love his idea! Thank you for the compliment! ~amy
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Beautiful but : What kind of stain did he use? Is he worried about the paint chemicals leaching into his soil?
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Yanic, I have no idea what kind of stain he used. But he runs a nursery, so I’m sure he checked out what stain to use. He lives in Oakland California…a very dry, dusty place…I will ask him for you if you’d like. ~amy
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That would be amazing because making our gardens all colorful and bright would definitely make the kids want to help more! 🙂
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I just wrote to him, but just in case I can’t find you again, maybe you could ask someone at Lowes or Home Depot? Good luck! ~amy
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Thank you!
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He wrote back yesterday!! This is what he wrote, “It’s Benjamin Moore’s ‘Arborcoate’ exterior stain. It is 100% Acrylic Latex which is water-based. One of the least toxic stains you can buy. Oil-based would be ones to avoid. We asked the sales person the risk of using this on a garden bed with food products in it & he said once it’s dry, there shouldn’t be any significant leaching. The beds are pretty big & the soil drains really well so I try to avoid even getting the sides wet.I did stain all sides of the wood, I realized afterwards I could have just stained the outside…I’m really not concerned though. They look great as is.” Jason does live in Oakland, CA. which is a pretty dry place except for winter. So maybe you could just stain the outside, top edge & two inches down? I hope this helps & if you do stain yours, I would LOVE to see it! ~amy
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Thank you so much for all the info… when we redo our beds, I’ll post pictures for sure! 🙂 Have a great week-end.
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