http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/woodash.html
Interesting read Tim. I tend to put a small amount on my garlic patch a couple of times a year, other than that I struggle to know exactly what to do with it!!
What caught my eye was this bit -
" Specific recommendations for the use of wood ash in the garden are difficult to make because soil composition and reaction varies from garden to garden. ......... Soils that are slightly acidic (pH 6.0 to 6.5) should not be harmed by the application of 20 pounds per 100 square feet annually, if the ash is worked into the soil about 6 inches or so. ...."
That's a heck of a lot of ash!
The sort of quantity we get from the odd bonfire isn't going to have much effect. I once had a bonfire in Cornwall, and then planted potatoes there. The spuds from that patch were twice the size of anything else. Of course, I'm used to neutral to slightly acid soils, and I'm not sure what effect it would have on a limy soil.
Just goes to show, Robert - when Potatoes like an acidy soil?
I have a woodburner (smokeless zone compliant before anyone asks), which produces about two sackfulls each winter. I use it sprinkled around allium crops, and gooseberries, as they both benefit from extra potash. The secret is to bag it up properly so that it can be stored 'till needed, and applied at just the time the crop most benefits. Otherwise you end up wandering around with a bucket wondering where to dispose of it.
Another approach is to sprinkle it in to the compost pile. Compost being acid, neutralises the alkaline ash (and the compost can 'tie up' the soluble minerals, turning it into a more long-term fertiliser).
What is VITAL is to ensure that no treated timber goes in to the stove, otherwise you are going to be adding toxic salts of chromium, copper and arsenic to your soil. Wood treated for domestic use (like gardening) is now banned from containing arsenate compounds, but wood intended for construction (pressure treated posts etc) probably will.
I avoid using treated timber such as decking to make raised beds for the same reason. I just don't need that stuff in my food crops! It leaches out of the wood quite easily.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_preservation
Should put you off.
Quote from: Ian Pearson on March 10, 2010, 16:57:08
I have a woodburner (smokeless zone compliant before anyone asks), which produces about two sackfulls each winter. I use it sprinkled around allium crops, and gooseberries, as they both benefit from extra potash. The secret is to bag it up properly so that it can be stored 'till needed, and applied at just the time the crop most benefits. Otherwise you end up wandering around with a bucket wondering where to dispose of it.
Another approach is to sprinkle it in to the compost pile. Compost being acid, neutralises the alkaline ash (and the compost can 'tie up' the soluble minerals, turning it into a more long-term fertiliser).
What is VITAL is to ensure that no treated timber goes in to the stove, otherwise you are going to be adding toxic salts of chromium, copper and arsenic to your soil. Wood treated for domestic use (like gardening) is now banned from containing arsenate compounds, but wood intended for construction (pressure treated posts etc) probably will.
I avoid using treated timber such as decking to make raised beds for the same reason. I just don't need that stuff in my food crops! It leaches out of the wood quite easily.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_preservation
Should put you off.
most timber sold for garden use is not only treated, its softwood, deal, pine, cedar. You do not want to be burning much softwood because of the vast amounts of tar and soot they make.
Having seen it on Time Team a couple of times, im going to try making a charcoal clamp this year and charcoal the pile of pine and cedar i have.
Mr Flowerdew always suggests putting some wood ash around cooking apple trees