What to do with our woodstove ashes?

[prairie hill]

We live in an area of high alkaline soil. Any suggestions as to what we can do to dispose of our woodstove ashes? We've been scratching our heads over this for a good many years. Thanks!

[Sawmill Jim]

I put mine in the garden most times where i'm going to plant tomatoes .Wish I had enough for the whole garden

[TnAndy]

You could mix them with sulfur to lower the PH, since you already have an alkaline soil. They are a good source of potash.

[PlowGirl]

Make your own lye , and then make soap. Ashes are also great for traction on ice and snow.

[Rustaholic]

Ashes mixed 50/50 with water putty make great cores for sand molds.
Just in case you want to make a back yard foundry.

[Gray Wolf]

I toss ours on the icey spots on our road so the sun melts it faster.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Put them in the chicken coop.

[Forerunner]

Make hominy, to go with your soap.

[Micheal]

This time of year most of the ashes go on the driveway, specially on the hill part. Spring and fall time I spread some of them on the garden and lawn. The extra goes on the trails I've got in the woods as it helps grow grass and stop erosion.

[Nimrod]

I have acid soil so some of my ashes go on the compost pile for later use in the garden. Sometimes I dump them on a pile I started back in the woods. The piles are strategically placed so I can dump the ashes on one or the other so I am not standing downwind as I do so.

[Skandi]

Originally Posted by Nimrod

The piles are strategically placed so I can dump the ashes on one or the other so I am not standing downwind as I do so.

Oh I have done that so often!
I have the same issue with wood ashes as the OP, alkaline soil, and no frost to speak of, I bag them up and put them in our normal rubbish collection (after letting them sit for 4-5 days in the metal bucket I empty into. we only get a carrierbag full every two weeks so it's not too much of a problem.

What do they do in the chicken coop?

[Ceilismom]

Originally Posted by Skandi

Oh I have done that so often!
I have the same issue with wood ashes as the OP, alkaline soil, and no frost to speak of, I bag them up and put them in our normal rubbish collection (after letting them sit for 4-5 days in the metal bucket I empty into. we only get a carrierbag full every two weeks so it's not too much of a problem.

What do they do in the chicken coop?

Chickens will use them to dust bathe, helps keep mites and lice off them. Or so I'm told.

[sammyd]

Ours usually ended up on the driveway

[COWS]

To make lye for hominy: I am told that hardwood ashes makes the best lye, or maybe yields the most. Sift the ashes through an old window screen to get large pieces out. Put ashes in a shallow container, we used an old enameled refridgerator tray. Let it set a few days. The sashes will settle to the bottom. Pour off the water, which now has a weak lye mixture. Put dry corn in the water, allow to soak overnight, AIRC. The corn will swell up and split the outer skins. Use your hands and rub the corn together, until the skins are loose. Wash repeatedly to get rid of the skins and the lye. Cook to taste.

In older days people made lye regularly to use in soap making. The book, "Huckleberry Finn", by Mark Twain, referred to life in the 1840s. One passage has some of the characters running through a yard by the "ash hopper", which was a wooden box with a sloping bottom leading to a hole under which was placed a pail. Ashes were put in the hopper and rain water filtered through the ashes, making lye. Probably more to the process, but that's the general idea.

COWS

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Forerunner

Make hominy, to go with your soap.

Yes Ashes will work for both.

But be very careful I lost all the Skin and meat off my figures using Wood Ash. Took months to heal.

big rockpile

[anahatalotus]

I would just add some to the compost and chicken coop like others have recommended. You can save the lye water for soap but it takes a bit of practice to get good at it. I've never had the knack so I've just bought lye. In a pinch they can be used to make lye water to wash and soften laundry with too. Or if you run out of dish soap you can use ashes to scour plates and the lye will cut through the grease.

[Astrid]

We put them in the garden.

[jwal10]

I sift all my wood ashes first and use some when I make my own potting soil. Wood chips, sawdust and leaves can use some ashes. I use my regular compost, add more horse manure and compost again. The horse manure is mostly the wood pellets used for bedding and decomposed road apples. This works very good for tomato starts and in the big black tree pots that I grow them in, keeps blossom end rot down. I mix in sulfur and Epson salts in too. A good layer of wood ashes will keep weeds from growing where you don't want anything to grow, for a while, then it seems to make things grow more. I put a lot down under a good layer of wood chips along garden fences and lawn borders and right up along the foundation of the house, pull the mulch back and lay a new band each spring, seems to repel spiders and bugs.

We also use it make our own soap and hominy....James

[Jolly]

Originally Posted by COWS

To make lye for hominy: I am told that hardwood ashes makes the best lye, or maybe yields the most. Sift the ashes through an old window screen to get large pieces out. Put ashes in a shallow container, we used an old enameled refridgerator tray. Let it set a few days. The sashes will settle to the bottom. Pour off the water, which now has a weak lye mixture. Put dry corn in the water, allow to soak overnight, AIRC. The corn will swell up and split the outer skins. Use your hands and rub the corn together, until the skins are loose. Wash repeatedly to get rid of the skins and the lye. Cook to taste.

In older days people made lye regularly to use in soap making. The book, "Huckleberry Finn", by Mark Twain, referred to life in the 1840s. One passage has some of the characters running through a yard by the "ash hopper", which was a wooden box with a sloping bottom leading to a hole under which was placed a pail. Ashes were put in the hopper and rain water filtered through the ashes, making lye. Probably more to the process, but that's the general idea.

COWS

Gee, don't I feel old!

Grandma used to keep a wooden barrel with a lid for ashes by the back porch. It was set off the ground on a homemade brick platform and there was a small hole at the bottom to collect the lye.

Guess who got to clean the barrel out?...

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

you have gotten lots of good advice , and I have used many of these ways to use wood ash

but HERE IS THE REMINDER , make really really sure that there are NO HOT EMBERS in the ashes before you dispose of them any where that can burn , I lost a compost bin this way , it had been 3-4 days that the ashes had set in the metal can , so I dumped them on the compost bin for later use in the garden , the next day I think that looks odd and realize 2/3 of my compost bin is gone , just sort of smoldered away , still smoldering luckily it was out near the garden and 50' of snow covered ground from any buildings


so if I am not putting them on the side walks drive or road , I put them on the garden right on top of the snow , but I have acidic soil so that makes more sense for me