What to do with ashes

[Backwoods Savage]

Ashes are good for the garden and that is how we use most of them. We also use some when it gets icy. Ashes work good but if you have to walk on it, that can cause a mess on the bottom of your shoes, so beware. Ashes are also good for melting ice and snow simply because dirty snow and ice melts faster than clean snow and ice.

Today I got to thinking that it has been many years since we've had a bad ice storm and I always try to be prepared. A small bucket of ashes and sand in the car can come in mighty handy at times; either for you or some someone who is stuck.

So along with ashes, today was one of the annual chores; getting sand for winter use.

Every year I put dry sand in barrels to use on the winter ice. It works almost as good as salt and a whole lot cheaper. I put one barrel by our carport and one barrel in the neighbor's carport. She is a widow and I keep her driveway cleaned in the winter and when needed I'll spread sand so she can walk to the mailbox without slipping on the ice.

Here is a picture of the atv from the opposite view so you can see a little of our back yard. Sorry it was taken late in the afternoon so it is not the best picture.

So, does anyone else prepare for winter similar to this?

 

[woodzilla]

You bet! I have a full size garbage can of each alongside the driveway. However the sand is really a road gravel mix from summer rain run off into my front yard. It has saved my wife when i' m stuck at work for 16 hour shifts plowing out roads.

 

[Hurricane]

I do not usually have any ice problems that persist more than a few hours. I have my own tractor for cleaning the driveway so if it gets Icy I just use the front loader and curl the bucket more.
My ashes are left either in the garage ( on the concrete floor ) or outside in a metal pail for at least 3-4 days then it is just spread in the woods. I could not imagine my wife's reaction if the dogs and kids were tracking ash in the house on their feet.
I do have a bag of that calcium stuff to spread to melt the ice and have had the same bag for ever. I guess out where you are that is a much different story.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yes, around here there never seems to be a shortage of ice from December through March.

 

[rustynut]

good lookin back yard ya got there bws
rn

 

[wendell]

Yeah, looks like it wouldn't take long to mow.

 

[Dune]

I keep an "ash can" 1/2 full of dry wood ash for anealing tool steel and for slow cooling cast iron after I weld it. Works great, the only thing better would be a programable heat treating oven/

 

[savageactor7]

That's is a very sandy yard you have Savage...do you grow any strawberries? I suppose sand is a lot better on the ice than ashes cause it tracks cleaner if you bring any into the house.

Our ashes go in the garden or on the ice/snowpacked driveway.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yes, that is a beautiful back yard and it doesn't take long to mow either. lol

Has anyone noticed the deer tracks?

 

[DBoon]

Hi Backwoods Savage, that looks like northwest Michigan. We used to vacation near Traverse City when I was a kid ~30 years ago. That photo reminds me a lot of that.

 

[colebrookman]

Ashes are good for the garden and that is how we use most of them. We also use some when it gets icy. Ashes work good but if you have to walk on it, that can cause a mess on the bottom of your shoes, so beware. Ashes are also good for melting ice and snow simply because dirty snow and ice melts faster than clean snow and ice.

Today I got to thinking that it has been many years since we've had a bad ice storm and I always try to be prepared. A small bucket of ashes and sand in the car can come in mighty handy at times; either for you or some someone who is stuck.

So along with ashes, today was one of the annual chores; getting sand for winter use.

Every year I put dry sand in barrels to use on the winter ice. It works almost as good as salt and a whole lot cheaper. I put one barrel by our carport and one barrel in the neighbor's carport. She is a widow and I keep her driveway cleaned in the winter and when needed I'll spread sand so she can walk to the mailbox without slipping on the ice.

Here is a picture of the atv from the opposite view so you can see a little of our back yard. Sorry it was taken late in the afternoon so it is not the best picture.

So, does anyone else prepare for winter similar to this?

Yes we get salted sand from the highway garage pile every year. Always carry a bucket in the vehicles because we get lots of ice and snow. When I plowed for the town I came down our hills backwards many times. Just hold on till it stops. Change shorts and continue on. Very nice pics Dennis. Nice and private. Be safe. Oh as for ash and gardens, be careful, a little goes a long way. Same for lawns.
Ed

 

[ControlFreak]

Put some water there and it would look more like a beach! I bet you don't have much problem with standing water with a heavy rain.

I've used ash on the sidewalk - one time. It's too messy when it gets tracked into the house. Sand is much better for that. I generally toss the ash on the front lawn where the soil tends to be acidic. I also toss it on the compost pile. If there are nails in it, I'll toss it in the trash after it has sat for a day or two for any live coals to die off.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks fellas. We used to have a much bigger area with the open sand but we have planted a lot of pines to keep this stuff from blowing around. But this sand is definitely like beach sand and very clean. It is said that this area was part of the rim around the Saginaw Valley which at one time was all under water. That certainly was before our time!

Strawberries and most fruit does quite well on this place if we get enough water, but water goes through sand like this just about like through a sieve. A neighbor has a nice pond only about 1/4 mile from us and he lets me take all the water I want. I just haul it in barrels on a trailer. So we are also able to have a nice vegetable garden along with the fruit.


In answer to DBoon, yes, this area is very much like the Traverse City area. You no doubt noticed all the cherries in that area so they also grow fruit. When I was young I used to go for a couple weeks in the summer to Arcadia to pick cherries and one summer worked in a cannery near there after hail ruined the cherries.


Yes, the ashes need to be spread thin on gardens else nothing will grow there that year. I usually wait until the day for tilling and then spread the ashes and till them in right then. We've had no problems doing this.


Our place is quite private. We have a little over 40 acres and live on a dead end road. The road goes in just a little over 1/4 mile. There are 2 homes on one side and ours on the other. We can not see our neighbors. Along with the dead end, we also have a long driveway. Traffic is not a problem here! lol We love it.

All of our land is sand and most of it is wooded. We are blessed with good hunting here but cursed with too many wild turkeys. I hate those birds.

We have some deer every year that get quite accustomed to us and several come right up close to the house. Over the last several years we have had 3 fawns born in our yard with the closest one being about 10 yards or closer from the wife's kitchen window.

My wife has a path where she gets her daily walking exercise. Many times deer will lay and watch her. They also have done so when she has been picking berries. They lay and watch; unconcerned. A couple years ago I had some buckwheat planted just past the garden. A doe and two fawns watched her pick raspberries for a while, then got up and ate some buckwheat. When finished, they laid back down in the same spot. They never moved when she finished and walked out. I should add that the garden is fenced.

Almost every morning I can go out and there will be deer tracks crossing the driveway and very close to the house. Many have seen pictures of some of my wood piles. The deer go through there almost daily.

Yes. We are blessed and thank God for it all.

And thank you good friends.

 

[dvellone]

I've got a small "sand shed" that I fill late summer for winter use on my driveway. We've got a pretty steep grade on one stretch, and when the driveway goes to ice there's no getting up it without the sand. I put the ashes into the compost.

 

[oconnor]

Smart plan Savage. Lots of sandy areas here in the Annapolis Valley - I'm going to go get me some sand before the snow covers it up.

 

[DAKSY]

Pee in em & put em in your garden...
See here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090918-urine-ash-fertilizer.html

Hey, I don't make this stuff up...

 

[daryl]

My grandmother (rest her soul) made wood ash lye. Made her own lye soap for laundry and even there own lutefisk.I never could get used too ludefisk.

 

[madison]

Looks like an area of Michigan I used to night fish with mice many yrs ago, as well as getting stuck in the sand @ 4 AM , brings back good memories ....

 

[timfromohio]

Backwoods Savage - nice looking property! 40 acres ... makes me drool ...

I sprinkle the wood ashes over the garden area all winter and then till them in once Spring comes and the ground is dry enough to till (which can be quite late in NE Ohio).

 

[rdust]

Beautiful property, looks just like the state land I always camp/hunt on in Gladwin.

My only question is where on the property is my tree stand located?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just over that hill is a great place as is right behind where I am in the picture. You no doubt noticed all the deer tracks. Oh, I also have a ground blind for rifle hunting about 50 yards from there in that one row of pines. The closest tree stand right now if about 70 yards due east. I have another triple maple only about 30 yards from where I'm getting sand and that is a good stand. In short, there are many places for good hunting here. We love it!

 

[BrotherBart]

Just over that hill is a great place as is right behind where I am in the picture. You no doubt noticed all the deer tracks. Oh, I also have a ground blind for rifle hunting about 50 yards from there in that one row of pines. The closest tree stand right now if about 70 yards due east. I have another triple maple only about 30 yards from where I'm getting sand and that is a good stand. In short, there are many places for good hunting here. We love it!

It looks like you could hunt deer like I could here. From a lawn chair on the deck. :cheese:

Bucky was born out front of the house last year with a couple of sisters. He would be ready in another year or so if I still busted caps on deer. Wouldn't have the heart to do it. It would be like whacking a member of the family, that wasn't an in-law.

 

[rdust]

Bucky was born out front of the house last year with a couple of sisters. He would be ready in another year or so if I still busted caps on deer. Wouldn't have the heart to do it. It would be like whacking a member of the family, that wasn't an in-law.

Great looking horns for a young year and a half old buck!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That about sums it up.

 

[BrotherBart]

Great looking horns for a young year and a half old buck!

No kidding. He surprised the heck out of me. If he hadn't been up here every afternoon since he was born I would have thought it was another deer. The other two bucks born to a different mama last year have puny racks compared to Bucky. But he has been different from day one. When he was two months old I was out in the woods with him and his moma and sisters and he started bowing up wanting to protect the family. I pulled out a handful of corn and he got over it.