Ash Disposal

[buckwheat]

I'm curious what you guys do to dispose of your wood stove ashes. I've got a pile in the back that ends up mixed with compost, fills in ground hog holes, and also gets tilled into the garden. I've heard of mixing it into clay soil to break it down better. What are some other ideas?

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

What does that do to the pH of the soil? I just took a big bunch to the waste transfer station, maybe I should have saved it for my garden?

Any difference with leaf ashes? I jsut finally got the last of my fall leaves burned...

 

[Full Skip]

I'd imagine that ash would just bring down the acidity. I mix it with compost as well. It seems to work well.

 

[buckwheat]

I remember reading that the ash from the Mt. Saint Helens eruption actually created an excellent mulch because it was sterile, and prevented weeds from taking over, but still allowed new trees to take root. Apparently its 5-6 inches thick all over the mountain.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Volcanic ash is a different story - it's really just rock, blown into tiny fragments by volcanic gases. Not going to change the pH.

It DOES bring some good minerals to the surface, though, and I've heard of people selling it as an amendment.


6 inches deep, though? More like several hundred feet deep, in some places. It was several inches deep as far east as Lake Moses.


EDIT: Er, make that Moses Lake. Oops.

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

I take mine to the local transfer station where they have bins just for ashes.

.

 

[turnkey4099]

Mine just get spread on the lawn. I have an ash pan so just a good sling spreads them thinly. First rain or watering washes them in.

As for St Helens ash. I had a measured 1" on level surfaces the next morning around 10 am. That was several hours of it settling down so I don't know how much actually fell but it was more than an inch. I am within a stones throw of the Idaho bordor in Eastern WA. That stuff was HEAVY. I dumped most of it in the ditches then found how much good it did to the garden and kicked my rear for not putting all of it there.

Harry K

 

[aRBy]

In the winter I take the ash and sprinkle it on the driveway. The ash gives really good traction on the ice.
After that the rest gets mixed in with the garden.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Throw em on the lawn. Acts like lime would to neutralize the ph.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

As for St Helens ash. I had a measured 1" on level surfaces the next morning around 10 am. ....I am within a stones throw of the Idaho bordor in Eastern WA.

That puts you in the neighborhood of 250 miles or more from St. Helens, and something like 100 miles from Moses Lake.

That's a lot of ash! Sort of puts that 'one inch deep on the mountain' in perspective, doesn't it?