Uses for ash?

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Honda

Member
Nov 28, 2009
74
New Brunswick, Canada
Just curious if there is any beneficial uses for ash from the pellet stove? Is it good for a garden, compost, lawn, trees? What is the chemical makeup of ash?
 
Harmanator said:
Is it good for a garden, compost, lawn, trees? What is the chemical makeup of ash?

Yes, yes, yes, ?. It works like adding lime.
 
Harmanator said:
Just curious if there is any beneficial uses for ash from the pellet stove? Is it good for a garden, compost, lawn, trees? What is the chemical makeup of ash?

It's beneficial to keep you from falling on yer tookus when it's slickery out.
 
It is good to add to compost.
Depending on your local soil, large amounts added directly to the soil could be problematic (it is alkaline, so beneficial for acid soils, less beneficial for alkaline soils).
It contains the minerals that accumulated in the wood.
 
I dispose of em in the cucumber patch. I`ve been getting a bumper crop every year. Not sure if that`s the reason but it sure ain`t hurting the yield.
 
dump em in your driveway and tell the neighbors you had it paved
 
I use it to reduce the glare of the snow in my back yard.
 
If you have enough, you can also extract lye from the ashes, there are recipes online. Then you can make soap from the lye and some fat. To wash up from handling the ashes.

ps. just noticed you are also in New Brunswick. We have acid soils, so ashes are a useful additive to compost, or to garden soil, as long as you do not add too much in one place at a time.
 
Remember if you put it on your icy walkway, it's going to end up all over your floors. Yuck!!!
 
i cut my wifes rose bushes back last year, and caught MAJOR heck. "your gonna kill'em" she says. poured the stove ashes around them all winter, and when they grew back, they were beautiful. grew like wild fire.
 
mjbrown65 said:
i cut my wifes rose bushes back last year, and caught MAJOR heck. "your gonna kill'em" she says. poured the stove ashes around them all winter, and when they grew back, they were beautiful. grew like wild fire.

I have a bunch of 5 yr old evergreens. I assume it'll be good for them.
 
poconoman said:
mjbrown65 said:
i cut my wifes rose bushes back last year, and caught MAJOR heck. "your gonna kill'em" she says. poured the stove ashes around them all winter, and when they grew back, they were beautiful. grew like wild fire.

I have a bunch of 5 yr old evergreens. I assume it'll be good for them.

Most evergreens prefer a fairly acidic soil
 
Thanks you everyone. I knew about using it on ice, but it would be aweful stuff to drag in the house on your feet. Great to hear about it having the same effect as lime, I will be spreading it on the lawn instead of liming this spring. Also have a composter, will dump some in there too. I thought it would have the same effect, but didn't want to go ahead and try it and kill the grass.
I like the throwing it on the driveway idea as far as telling the neighbours that we just got a new pave. Look like a freshly swept driveway all winter! haha.
 
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