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| I have been saving my wood ashes (note, they are wood ashes not anything else, like charcoal, only wood that came from a once living tree) -- I haven't added any to my compost pile, but was wondering if any one else does - I was reading that in a small amount the ashes are good - but what's a small amount? ; )
What do you do with your ashes? I've read to sprinkle ashes on the driveway to get unstuck or on steps to make them not slippery (but I'd be careful not to track it on the carpet). Just wondering
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Melissa, Wood ashes are a good source of both potash and phosphorus and can be added to a compost pile. Wood ashes usually are about 1 1/2% phosphorus and anywhere between 1% and 10% potash. I believe the general rule of thumb is that ashes shouldn't exceed 20% of the compost pile materials. You also can skip the compost pile step and layer the wood ashes right on top of the soil in your garden beds. If you go that step, you should spread anywhere from 5 to 10 lbs. of ash per 100 s. f. of soil surface. The exceptions would be: ---Don't add wood ash to beds where acid-loving plants like blueberres grow, and ---Don't add wood ash to compost and eventually to garden beds if your soil is highly alkaline because they'll only made it more alkaline, and that's the last thing you need. I've heard that some people put a little round ring of ashes around plants that snails/slugs love to eat and it either repels them or kills them. I don't have snails or slugs so I haven't tried that one myself to see if it works. Dawn |
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- Posted by farmgardener (My Page) on Sun, Jan 3, 10 at 14:59
| Do the ashes from a pellet stove qualify as "wood ashes"? The pellets we burn are supposed to be wood based - anyone with any expertise on this subject? We have always had a wood burning fire - it's our first year for the pellets. |
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- Posted by mulberryknob z6OK (My Page) on Sun, Jan 3, 10 at 17:34
| We burn wood but don't add them to the compost though as Dawn says, you can. The problem arises because ashes are so extremely alkaline and we like using our compost on all our plants. Some plants like alkaline soils. For years we've been topdressing our asparagus with woodashes. And fruit trees benefit from the potash. Potash makes fruit sweeter. Our pie cherry sweetened up enough to eat cherries out of hand. We also put it around the apples. You want to keep it away from the trunk and just spread a thin layer all around the trees. Iris and lilacs in the perrenial bed benefit from a few ashes. In the main garden beans, beets, cabbage, cantaloupe--but not watermelon--cucumber, lettuce, onion, peas and squash would benefit from a light sprinkling of ash. In addition to the blueberries Dawn mentioned, keep it away from azaleas, mums, lilies, marigolds, potatos, radishs, sweet potatoes, strawberries,and conifers. And concerning adding it to compost piles, I seem to recall reading years ago that fresh ashes added to compost would cause nitrogen to vaporize into the air. Another reason we don't use it that way |
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| I put about a coffee can's worth of ashes in the soft dirt/sand where the chickens dust bathe as it's said to kill feather lice. Other than that, we just scatter them widely over the fields, not too many in any one place. |
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| and then there is this ashy story. my husband took the garbage out yesterday, and later on i looked out the window and said, "Our garbage is on fire." He went out and looked, and then said that he thought that the ashes had burned out overnight in the cold. He went out with a rack. I had visions of a firetruck coming or the police to give him a ticket. A police car finally drove by but didn't pay any attention to him. Now we have another pile of ashes to be set out next week. I am thinking we need a tin can with a lid so smother the ashes. not sure if those tin can's lids are airproof. last year i put them in the garden, but felt maybe my garden wouldn't like them. i don't know the acidity of the soil. |
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| Like Littledog, we use toss some of them for the chickens to use as a dustbath. Other bucketfuls get scattered around the various garden spots. We have so much garden area that I don't worry about putting it on too thickly. Diane |
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| jessaka the ashes are good insulation and hot coals can stay in there for a long time. I burnt a brown spot in my carpet near the front of the stove underestimating the heat from my ash bucket. Okiedawn I didn't know you could use so much ash; I know they make lye from ashes so I have been cautious. It makes sense that they would have minerals plants need. |
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| Helen, You can use a good bit of ash as long as your soil is not highly alkaline. My soil and water are both alkaline, so I would never add ash. If I had more acidic soil, though, I would. Dawn |
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