Since I don't care to get a face full of ashes or get them all over my clothes, I always first let go a small pinch to see what direction it will travel. Then I hold my breath while dumping it just in case.Gooserider said:
What does everyone do with there ash?
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Gooserider said:
And as an added bonus Wednesday Night's spaghetti feed at Gooserider's place features spaghetti lightly seasoned with a bit o' wood ash.
LLigetfa said:
Unfortunately I had a lapse of good judgment this past weekend as I tried to dump out my ashes during a windstorm and ended up spreading about half the ashes on my garden and half the ashes on myself and my clothing.
Well... actually I lied. I didn't "always" but I learned quick. Still get the odd dusting on my boots when the air is still.firefighterjake said:LLigetfa said:
Unfortunately I had a lapse of good judgment . . . ended up spreading about half the ashes on my garden and half the ashes on myself and my clothing.
firefighterjake said:Gooserider said:
And as an added bonus Wednesday Night's spaghetti feed at Gooserider's place features spaghetti lightly seasoned with a bit o' wood ash.
Not really.... Aside from the fact that we lo-carb, so no spaghetti (except spaghetti squash) - I have a seperate set of dish items that I use for "garage stuff"... I even have my own dishwasher - er parts cleaner, though I usually tend to rinse the stuff off in the tub first...
Gooserider
First, for Johnnywarm, no, wood ashes are most definitely not acid - quite the contrary. As stated in an earlier post, wood ash is extremely caustic (a base, or alkaline) with a ph in the 12 to 13 range. So the question of being good for the garden will vary with the needs of that particular garden.
Wood ash is not a fertilizer either. It contains nearly no nitrogen or nitrogen compounds. It can be an excellent mineral supplement, however, with potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and other trace elements. But again, as with all mineral supplements you can get too much of a good thing. I have a budding Mt. Vesuvius where I have been burning downed limbs, leaves, and sawdust from my shop. Nothing has grown within a foot of this pile for more than three years.
I have used it to melt snow. I am guessing that it works by forming calcium, sodium, and magnesium salts, but I really do not know the chemistry. When wet, large amounts of ash will form a clay that can be quite slick, so I don't put it on sidewalks.
As regards live coals in the ashes, This is why the old timers used ash cans. Currently, with daytime highs of 60 deg. or so here locally, I am only burning my stove of an evening for a few hours. I have started my fire the last two days from coals that were still live inside the stove at 6:00 pm, having added no new firewood since 10:00 pm the previous night! Even when using an ash can to hold the ashes one needs to use caution and judgement when dumping them. I am guessing live coals could remain in one even three or four days later. Maybe longer?
Concerning the use of charcoal from the stove in the bbq - that is absolutely true. Almost any natural hardwood charcoal will provide superior flavor to briquettes, which usually have a petroleum based binder to hold them together.
Mark
Wood ash is not a fertilizer either. It contains nearly no nitrogen or nitrogen compounds. It can be an excellent mineral supplement, however, with potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and other trace elements. But again, as with all mineral supplements you can get too much of a good thing. I have a budding Mt. Vesuvius where I have been burning downed limbs, leaves, and sawdust from my shop. Nothing has grown within a foot of this pile for more than three years.
I have used it to melt snow. I am guessing that it works by forming calcium, sodium, and magnesium salts, but I really do not know the chemistry. When wet, large amounts of ash will form a clay that can be quite slick, so I don't put it on sidewalks.
As regards live coals in the ashes, This is why the old timers used ash cans. Currently, with daytime highs of 60 deg. or so here locally, I am only burning my stove of an evening for a few hours. I have started my fire the last two days from coals that were still live inside the stove at 6:00 pm, having added no new firewood since 10:00 pm the previous night! Even when using an ash can to hold the ashes one needs to use caution and judgement when dumping them. I am guessing live coals could remain in one even three or four days later. Maybe longer?
Concerning the use of charcoal from the stove in the bbq - that is absolutely true. Almost any natural hardwood charcoal will provide superior flavor to briquettes, which usually have a petroleum based binder to hold them together.
Mark
jotul8e2 said:
(broken link removed)
Whether or not it is good for your soil depends on your soil. When we were clearing acres of land for farming, we burned a lot of brush in huge piles. We could always tell where the burn piles were because the crops grew twice as tall there.
Don't put your ash in your yard if you love MOSS ! Moss does not like the resultant PH of wood ash. The area around my house that is clear of trees grows MOSS when I don't tend to it as a lawn ! About a third of my "lawn" is moss or moss under thin scraggly grass that I can weed out. It's like having carpet in the yard...it's awesome ! I've decided to discourage the grass and ENCOURAGE THE MOSS. I mistakenly used ash in one corner of my property and the moss has had some difficulty recouperating.
Let me count the places I use it,
1 - Compost Pile,
2 - Garden,
3 - Flower Beds,
4 - Lawn (if no nails).
1 - Compost Pile,
2 - Garden,
3 - Flower Beds,
4 - Lawn (if no nails).
Icy driveway for me
Really helps on the gravel section of the driveway, since you cant salt it....
Really helps on the gravel section of the driveway, since you cant salt it....
Mostly onto my 700 ft driveway, alittle extra traction in the snow. A little goes into the garden.
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