Topic: ashes

[wilko]

Hi all,
just had a thought while cleaning the fire out, can I use these ashes for anything in the veg plot, I know I can use the cinders around plants to help with the slug invasion, but the ashes?
hope i'm not being a dork !!!!  ::)

by the way I have a heavy clay soil

[supersprout]

wood ash, coal or coke ash?

[wilko]

coal ash

[supersprout]

Then not really :-\ - see last sentence from the RHS:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1204/wood_ash.asp

[wilko]

Thanks Supersprout :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you're making a permanent path, you can use it to build that up. Thats about all you can do with it.

[supersprout]

I was brought up in a small village in Northumberland. A row of cottages at the edge of the village (populated by hardy old ladies) was supplied with water from an iron standpipe in the road. During the light frosts, they would prevent the standpipe from freezing by packing warm cinders around it from their (coal) fires each evening. You just reminded me of that with the cinder path Robert. I assume that when the frosts were really hard they would stockpile water indoors.

[Bill Door]

When I was young we had a coal fire and the ashes went on to a "ash heap".  Sometimes my father would dig it over and take the bottom part and spread it on the clayish soil we had.  Seemed to work ok.  The funny thing was that it was the only area in the garden that mint would grow well.  I think the mint roots helped the heap and the mint never spread from that area.  So if you like mint you could try that  :)

regards  Bill