What to do with the ashes?

[k3c4forlife]

Anyone know of a good way of recycling ashes? Are they good for your topsoil, etc? I feel like it's such a waste to to just dump a whole garbage can of ashes once a month...

 

[firefighterjake]

A search for ashes should result in many, many threads on this topic.

But the short, FFJake condensed version is . . .

-- Good for icy driveways -- helps melt the ice and gives you traction
-- Good for gardens . . . but depends on how acidic or alkilinic your dirt is
-- Good for making soap . . . if you're so inclined

 

[Cutter]

I pour them deeply along a stone retaining wall to lessen the time on a weed eater in the summer.

 

[k3c4forlife]

I am thinking about setting up a sifter to pull all the coals out for reuse. It would be messy but couldnt hurt. Dont know what to do from there... Anyone else have anything?

 

[jadm]

I am thinking about setting up a sifter to pull all the coals out for reuse. It would be messy but couldnt hurt. Dont know what to do from there... Anyone else have anything?

Check out a restaurant supply store. Deep fry mesh ladles with long handles work great for sifting.

Ashes, I spread in my garden once they are COLD.

 

[AlexNY]

I was told that wood ashed could burn the lawn, so for many years I put them in a metal canister to cool and a few days later discarded them with the rest of the household garbage.

I recently had an entire bucket full of wood ash drop in a concentrated patch on my lawn. I sprayed it down with water, and the lawn did not suffer. If a small patch of lawn can handle a week of ash and not suffer, I think that the whole "burn" argument is probably false.

Since then, I have been using the ash to fertilize the lawn, shrubs, and trees on my property.

No problems so far.

 

[ckdeuce]

Since then, I have been using the ash to fertilize the lawn, shrubs, and trees on my property.

No problems so far.

+1. My neighbors probably think I am drunk..... Dumping ashes (bodyparts for all the know) all through my lawn with nothing but a really loose fitting robe on...... Kidding about the robe thing, the drunk part is more likely.

 

[k3c4forlife]

I dont know if I am this hardcore, but it can be used to make lye for making soap... Seems like a lot of work and you need a lot of supplies for it...

 

[cycloxer]

I dump them out by the brush pile near the woods, LOL, hasn't started the pile on fire yet...of course we have a lot of snow right now...sometimes i'm drunk...i don't wear robes either

 

[k3c4forlife]

Ya, whenever I have a few too many beers, I make like 10 runs from the pile to the house with firewood. It's always better to wake up hungover with wood in the house than outside in the pile. Sometimes I dont remember doing the work, then its a great good surprise to find the wood ready to go.

 

[ckdeuce]

Ya, whenever I have a few too many beers, I make like 10 runs from the pile to the house with firewood. It's always better to wake up hungover with wood in the house than outside in the pile. Sometimes I dont remember doing the work, then its a great good surprise to find the wood ready to go.

Separated at birth maybe? Brother?

 

[Tfin]

I like to sprinkle some in my morning coffee.

 

[k3c4forlife]

Ya, whenever I have a few too many beers, I make like 10 runs from the pile to the house with firewood. It's always better to wake up hungover with wood in the house than outside in the pile. Sometimes I dont remember doing the work, then its a great good surprise to find the wood ready to go.

Separated at birth maybe? Brother?

I do my hardest work when I'm the drunkest... When you get a lot done and dont remember doing the work in the morning its the best of both worlds.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ashes are good for the ground......but only if not spread too thick. Spread it thin; poor man's lime. It also should not harm lawns, but spread it thin.

If there is somewhere you don't want things to grow, just dump a bunch of ashes (like Cutter does) and that will take care of things for a few years.

 

[Hurricane]

I always let them cool in the metal bucket on a cement floor until the next time I need to clean ashes. Then I just take them outside and spread the ashes in the woods, garden, flower beds, and reload the pail.

 

[annette]

I spread them on the lawn and garden too, after fishing out the nails with a rare-earth magnet. The ash is supposed to cut down on the slugs in the garden, which seems to be the case for me. I also dump the ashes in the compost piles.

I do make soap, using lye, and I've looked into how to use ash to get lye, and how people made soap before lye could really be tested for strength. No thanks, I'll spend the $3 for a can of drain opener!

 

[Gunks]

I save the ash and spread it on icy driveway when needed.

 

[szmaine]

Anyone using ashes as a soil amendment on a regular basis really should get their soil tested once in a while.
Your state should have a soil testing lab where you can have it done.
I've seen people run their vegetable gardens up as high pH 8, which limits the solubility of essential nutrients, by using wood ash too liberally - most plants do best at around 6.5.

annette: I don't think you can use the Red Devil lye anymore, they started adding aluminum shavings so that it can't be used to make methamphetamines.
But NaOH (lye) is easy to find elsewhere for bar soap - KOH, such as could be leached from wood ashes, makes soft or liquid soap.

 

[CrawfordCentury]

poor man's lime

Bearing that in mind, be careful disposing of them near plants that need higher acidity to survive and thrive.

Mine go on the lawn. Nice with snow on the ground, its not necessary to let the embers suffocate first.

First year doing this, I did kill some grass. Too much in one spot.

I try to time ash disposal right before a snow storm so their not unsightly blotches on in the yard.

Also best not to dispose in high wind. Same basic principle as takin a leak into a stiff gust.

 

[annette]

The cautions about making your soil too alkaline are good ones. My soil is very sandy and doesn't "hold on" to anything. The soil under my pine tree is neutral!

If you don't know whether your area has normally acid or alkaline soil, definitely test it. A compost pile seems to make neutral compost no matter what's dumped into it, but don't hate me if you put in 40 lbs of ash and it doesn't work out for you! I just put in maybe 5 lbs a year.

szmaine, I was very sad when Red Devil wasn't available anymore. (it's just gone, here). But Menard's carries some other brand that is 100% lye, or at least they did last year. Getting lye shipped to me is more expensive--maybe that's when I'll start figuring out how to use ashes But you're right, the ashes make KOH, not NaOH, and make soft soap--although some of those old non-recipes for using wood ashes mention adding salt to make the bar hard. I wonder what that reaction is.

Your first name isn't Sandy, is it? As in the author of soapmaking books? That would be cool

 

[szmaine]

The cautions about making your soil too alkaline are good ones. My soil is very sandy and doesn't "hold on" to anything. The soil under my pine tree is neutral!

If you don't know whether your area has normally acid or alkaline soil, definitely test it. A compost pile seems to make neutral compost no matter what's dumped into it, but don't hate me if you put in 40 lbs of ash and it doesn't work out for you! I just put in maybe 5 lbs a year.

Exactly right. Too much ash will kill composting microbes - use sparingly!

szmaine, I was very sad when Red Devil wasn't available anymore. (it's just gone, here). But Menard's carries some other brand that is 100% lye, or at least they did last year. Getting lye shipped to me is more expensive--maybe that's when I'll start figuring out how to use ashes But you're right, the ashes make KOH, not NaOH, and make soft soap--although some of those old non-recipes for using wood ashes mention adding salt to make the bar hard. I wonder what that reaction is.

Your first name isn't Sandy, is it? As in the author of soapmaking books? That would be cool

Sorry to disappoint - it's Suzanne. I learned to make basic lye soap from some old timers here. They butcher a steer every year, render the fat, share the meat with us - the missus taught me. I read up on it quite a bit. Husband and brother love the soap - both work on misc engines and say it cuts though the grease as good as dish soap but doesn't dry out their hands.

 

[tickbitty]

If there is a ceramics studio or school with a ceramics program near you they might want your ashes for making wood ash glaze. It's the real cool artsy looking drippy stuff.

However, I plan to dump my ashes in the holes the dang dogs dig in the yard. That's where everything goes, lawn clippings, broken flowerpots, dog doo, ashes. I try to discourage it but they won't stop. They aren't even outdoor dogs. Just really bad mole hunters.

 

[elmoleaf]

1. garden.
2. lawn.
3. compost pile.

 

[firefighterjake]

Since then, I have been using the ash to fertilize the lawn, shrubs, and trees on my property.

No problems so far.

+1. My neighbors probably think I am drunk..... Dumping ashes (bodyparts for all the know) all through my lawn with nothing but a really loose fitting robe on...... Kidding about the robe thing, the drunk part is more likely.

You're a better man than me . . . my wife is always yelling at me since I'm going outside wearing nothing but my boxer shorts and a T-shirt. I keep telling her they'll all think I'm just wearing shorts, but she keeps telling me they'll know the difference.

 

[firefighterjake]

Double post . . . obviously I was just trying to boost my green box thingy post count.