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Can you do anything with ash

WhackMaster719
WhackMaster719 Posts: 307
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Forgive me if this sounds silly, but can you do anything with the ash from the egg, besides chuck it? I was thinking of putting it in the garden but the wife said it would probably change the PH of the soil and kill everything... Any ideas? Also, I have just been scooping mine into plastic grocery bags and tossing in the trash, what do you guys do?

Comments

  • usually I throw it away but I also cast it over parts of my yard where the soil is too acidic from juniper that had apparently been there for years.

    I might be wrong, but I think it's good for plants that don't like acid and prefer a ph in the opposite direction.

    Check with a local nursery re: what kind of plants might benefit from this.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    depends on what your growing and what your soil ph is, in newengland i dont think you could put too much down witth all the acid in the soil here. lilacs like it, rhodes and blueberries do not
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Rather than putting it directly into my garden, I sprinkle it onto the compost pile. (Note I said sprinkle around, not dump into a big clump.) I figure it will get mixed around with everything else in the pile, diluting the basic ph to a decent extent.
  • bellw
    bellw Posts: 26
    I know rose bushes do well with ash. My dad use to sprinkle around his and I do the same. Outside that I dump in my compost pile.
  • After Mt Saint Helens erupted here in Washington some enterprising individuals were selling bags of the volcanic ash as souvenirs. Perhaps you could bag your ash and give to guests when they go home after your next big cook out as keep sakes. ;):lol:
  • Great idea! I thought about putting in my daughters sand table this year.... :laugh: :whistle: :laugh: I'm sure the wife would love to clean that up!
  • 'Q Bruddah
    'Q Bruddah Posts: 739
    During the back to the land movement of the 1970's many were interested in soapmaking. I never tried it but learned lye water can be leached out of hardwood ashes to make soap. It is fairly involved and not particularly inexpensive with equipment costs. Laboratory produced lye is too common since the 1800's so most don't include this step in soapmaking. Just in case you are wondering another main ingredient is rendered tallow, so trimmings from a piece of bbq fare could end up as soap.
    Question to self: Are you interested in BBQ? Yes!! Soapmaking? Not so much.
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    Not knowing any better I dumped a couple buckets of ash in my garden bed last winter. So far my plants are looking good, lots of tomatoes. -RP
  • Chef Charles
    Chef Charles Posts: 871
    We have started a "green bin" program here in Ottawa where residents can throw out organic material that is then converted into compost. Ashes are included in the list of material that can be put into the green bin.

    Tom

    Tom

    Charles is a mischevious feline who always has something cooking

    Twin lbge's .. grew up in the sun parlor of Canada but now egging in the nation's capital

  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
    Put it on yer fire an' make ya a batch of potash!!
  • thebtls
    thebtls Posts: 2,300
    you can use SMALL amounts in your compost.
    Visit my blog, dedicated to my Big Green Egg Recipies at http://www.bigtsbge.blogspot.com You can also follow my posts on FaceBook under the name Keep On Eggin' or the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Keep-On-Eggin/198049930216241
  • Jai-Bo
    Jai-Bo Posts: 584
    Garden fertilizer, or roses (suposedly bananna peels too), or I just chunk it into different parts of my yard! I think the tank oppossums like it cause they dig holes all in the areas where I dump it....nothing a 22 can't fix though! :blink: :laugh:
    Hunting-Fishing-Cookin' on my EGG! Nothing else compares!
  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
    as others have said, the only time it makes sense to put ashes into your garden/compost pile/lawn is if you live in an area where the soil pH is acidic (notably, new england). if you have neutral to high ph in your area, you don't want to add ashes. it won't kill anything, per se, but it won't help. high pH tends to lock up nitrogen in the soil, preventing it from fertilizing your plants/lawn.
    check with your local extension service to find out what the soil pH is in your area.
  • grillmandan
    grillmandan Posts: 270
    I just add it to my compost bin
  • THA
    THA Posts: 198
    Since all are supposedly cooks, here, why not make your own hominey. These ashes are cleaner than the ones out of a fireplace or outside fire.

    Did it one time and it was good. As mentioned before in soap making, the lye is timeconsuming but you make your own and have a pride in that.
  • Well...
    It’s a hardwood ash and so I use it in the garden soil, compose pile and for “pest control” purposes.
    It works wonders on helping to control slugs, cut worms and wire worms.
  • LoneStarEgg
    LoneStarEgg Posts: 287
    I throw it in the yard and planting beds. Don't use it around acid loving plants.
    http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/771/
  • Lothar
    Lothar Posts: 30
    I live in Nebraska and some of our rivers can get pretty bad ice jams in the winter/spring. The last several years they have been trying (with success) to melt the ice jams quicker by dropping ash onto the ice from a crop dusting plane. The theory is that the ash is darker in color than the ice and therefore absorbs heat from the sun and melts the ice.

    Long story short, I'm saving up ash from my fireplace and my egg to drop on my sidewalk and driveway in the winter as an icemelt. I can't report from personal experience if this works as I didn't think of doing it this past winter but I'll do so next year.