Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

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wildcat
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Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by wildcat » January 1st, 2022, 8:24 pm

Has anybody tried this?

Basically I have a garden on the side of the house where I plant squash, zucchini, stringbeans, corn (sometimes), carrots and such. Past 2-3 years' yields have been pathetic and I wonder if the dirt has just gotten depleted. Springtime, when there's enough there I'll rototill the previous couple years' compost in (mostly lawn clippings, spoilt produce, watermelon peels and leaves ground up by the mower) but it hasn't really made much difference. I note how new-growth vegetation thrives in previously-burnt areas. Since (obviously) it isn't possible to set a forest fire in a neighborhood, or at least is highly unadvisable, I wonder would spreading the winter's fireplace/fire bin byproducts over it then rototilling it in help? I only burn tree logs (mainly pine and the birch and oak trees that I had taken out a couple years ago) and newspaper* to start it, no lumber, and collect the ash in a big steel trash bin in the garage.

I'm also too much of a cheapskate to buy chemical fertiliser at the store, and that stuff stinks like F anyways.

* When I'm not using the propane torch to start it. The Craplumbian and Snoregonian are worth far more as a fire starter than the sensationalist 49 IQ, lowest common denominator fishwraps they otherwise are. I'm convinced that if it weren't for their carrying the legals and other paid adverts they'd have been tits-up by 2010.
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BurnsideBob
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by BurnsideBob » January 1st, 2022, 9:37 pm

We use our fireplace ashes in our garden. Ashes are low pH so help to correct acidic soils--and most of our soils in Western Oregon are acidic thanks to our rain. Ashes contain the mineral residue of the wood--minerals not being combustible--so can be valuable if your soil is deficient in those minerals.

Gardening is a complex topic and, as most people don't do controlled trials, a contentious one--everyone has an opinion about what works based on their experience.

My wife and I have improved our garden's productivity by dividing the garden area into four beds of equal size. In Bed 1 we plant "leaves and seeds" (lettuces, spinach, kale, corn, beans), in Bed 2 we plant fruits (tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, squash), in Bed 3 we plant root crops (potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, radish, parsnip), and Bed 4 is the fallow bed where we "plant" our fire place ashes, coffee grounds, egg shells and kitchen vegetable trimmings. The next year the fallow bed becomes bed 1, the old bed 1 becomes bed 2, and so on.

There are several reasons for following this scheme but the most important is that it limits the population of injurious insects (examples: wireworms, carrot fly larvae, symphylans, etc) and disease inoculum that build up in the soil when the same crops are planted year after year.

May all your seeds come up in 2022!!

BurnsideBob
I keep making protein shakes but they always turn out like margaritas.

jvangeld
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by jvangeld » January 3rd, 2022, 12:18 pm

Steve Solomon in Growing Vegetable West of the Cascades argues that our soils are already high in potassium, the primary nutrient in wood ash. So he doesn't think that there is usually a benefit to adding wood ash to a garden. Regardless, a soil test can tell you what nutrients your soil needs.

Charcoal, on the other hand, is of great benefit to soil. It holds onto nutrients that would otherwise wash away in the rain and makes them available to the organisms in your soil. The presence of charcoal in the soil is one thing that makes the Amazon so fertile. https://infogalactic.com/info/Terra_preta
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retired jerry
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by retired jerry » January 3rd, 2022, 12:22 pm

I think the Solomon book is really good. I've used his ideas.

And I've also heard that charcoal is good. I got to try that. Has that made any difference for you?

jvangeld
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by jvangeld » January 3rd, 2022, 12:49 pm

I've just picked some charcoal out of my firepit and tossed it on my compost pile a few times. I can't say if it has had an effect.

This is a local guy who has been making biochar in a big pit and adding it to his field-garden. https://permies.com/t/157204/Experiment ... it#1245226
Jeremy VanGelder - Friends of Road 4109

vacagol
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by vacagol » January 25th, 2022, 10:49 pm

My parents have been using fireplace as as soild amendment for many years and I see that it's really effective. They mix it with other substances to achieve the best result, but I forgot the name of these fertilizers.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Fireplace ash as garden soil amendment?

Post by Don Nelsen » January 27th, 2022, 8:15 am

I'm giving it a try this year. I'll let you know if there's any difference when the garden starts producing. It did really well last year though so it may be hard to see a difference:
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