Topic: What to do with ash??

[daisymay]

Had great fun last night burning our old shed and a load of other bits of wood we had kicking about. (despite weather forecast of rain from 3pm onwards, was dry all night!)

We had the fire where we intend to dig up the lawn and make the flower bed wider, but what should we do with the ash? I am thinking of spreading it out and digging it in, is this the right thing to do?  ???

[AikenDrum]

Was gonna go on the prowl today myself to gather ash from nearby bonfires, figuring it must be useful for something, thereby increasing my locally perceived weirdness tenfold.    ;D

P.S. A tad too wet I fear.     {:¬)#

[daisymay]

Just a bit! horrible isn't it!!??

You really would get some funny looks then. Though Bedford does have its fair share of weirdo's so you will prob have plenty of competition...

Me included!  ;D ;D

[adam04]

use it, its will make the soil alkaline tho, or begin to make it alkaline if you have acid soil. so if you already ahve alkaline soil, best not to use it or to use it and add some of that compost that has the long name beginning with E.  ;D

[daisymay]

well - if it is good enough for your dad Wardy then we will give it a go. Our plum tree on the lottie needs a bit of TLC so might even fill a bucket and treat it to some too.

Thanks Adam. Our soil is neutral and I will be mixing it with 2m³ of top soil (when I get round to ordering it!), so should be well distributed in the end. So I think it shouldn't effect the ph too greatly in the long run??!!??

[adam04]

wow Daisy may,     just noticed something,   he smile on your dp, looks like the smiley  ;D

   :o :o    ;D ;D ;D ;D   :o :o

[terrace max]

As long as no tannalised or otherwise treated timber has got onto the fire - wood ash is good for lining potato trenches...

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's got lots of potash so it's good stuff. I've got buckets and buckets in my shed.

[AikenDrum]

daisymay + wardy, I've just remembered something ... when I had a house in Park Road North (about 20 years ago), that's right next door to the old town cemetary, I had plum trees in my little orchard to die for (bggr !  completely unintentional pun  :( ) and one day when I'd had one or two sherberts over the required matrimonial limit, I put a sign outside the house with a tray of plums saying "Buy some plums and eat a friend"  The OH was definitely un-amused    {:¬ (

[terrace max]

Think its got arsenic in it...

[daisymay]

so you can guess what my next questiuon is:

what is tanalised?

a couple of bits of wood were painted and the shed, many many moons a go would have been varnished?!?

[djbrenton]

I save mine for the onions and garlic. They love potash in February.

[ipt8]

Tanalised is the green coloured, or very rarely brown fencing rails, posts and stakes that you see mostly on farms etc. Its the fumes from the burning that are dangerous but I am not sure about the ash.
It is the preservative used to pressure treat the timber in a vacuum tank. It is ofter called Tanalith.

[daisymay]

I save mine for the onions and garlic. They love potash in February.

thats a good idea too - I am growing overwinter "radar" onions so would I do this now or still in February?

Thanks for the info ipt8, think I should be OK then as none of the wood looked like that  - bit late to worry about breathing in the fumes too, don't appear to have done me any harm.

[Rose.mary]

Didn't know it was good for sheds Robert ::)
Rosemary

[Robert_Brenchley]

It isn't; I've got no room to move, and the shed badly needs converting into ash itself. I had far more than I could use, and it's getting used up over several years.