Through out last winter, as I would clean out the stove I would just dump the ashes into a 50 gallon galvanized trash can sitting out on the deck. This spring I spread about 10 gallons worth out over the yard and garden but it was a pain to distribute in a spreader and I was worried about putting too much in any one place. Now my wife is on me about getting the can emptied and off the deck......but I'm worried about just dumping too much into any one place in the yard and maybe killing some grass. If I just dump them in a pile in the woods is the lye going to leech out kill anything close or down stream? I toyed with the idea of leeching the lye out but it looks as if the process to do that is a little messy and the only thing I would guess I would use it for would be to make soap which looks to be sort of involved and the oils and fats involved would make it too expensive. Any experience or ideas would be appreciated.