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suomi

what to do with wood ash....

Hi, We are using a wood burner for our heating and we are firing it up everyday, so hence we have a great deal of ash and small bits of charcoal.we dont put anything else into the fire so its pure stuff,but what can we do with it? we are living in Finland so we will be burning wood untill april!!! so it all adds up.
So any suggestions would be great. Thanks. Laughing Laughing
sally_in_wales

Make lye then make soap?
Blue Sky

I've heard you should throw it on the compost pile as it is a good substitute for lime in neutralising acidity. Don't know how true this is but I just do as I am told so that is where ours goes Laughing

S
LynneA

Good source of Potassium, so sprinkle it where your flowering & fruiting produce will be next year.
dougal

If you have a clay soil, the lime and solids will improve it. You need to dig it in though...

I'm sure some French cheeses are rolled in ash...
... and some hams are cured by being left in a box of ash rather than hung...
jamanda

sally_in_wales wrote:
Make lye then make soap?


How do you do that? Is there already a thread about it somewhere?
Nanny

you can also use wood ash to cure skins
sally_in_wales

Jamanda wrote:
sally_in_wales wrote:
Make lye then make soap?


How do you do that? Is there already a thread about it somewhere?


Short answer is fill a barrell with ash, add water, allow to stand then draw off the lye through a hole in the bottom. Its strong enough for soap if you can float an egg in it. Then add fat, boil it all together until the soap forms, then add brine to salt out any free lye and promite a harder soap. The principle is simple, getting the proportions right on the other hand, isnt, plus each wood type gives a slightly different type of lye.

THere are a few sites online with detailed instructions on getting the lye strength right.
Blue Sky

Nanny wrote:
you can also use wood ash to cure skins


Now there's an idea Idea

Anybody got a recipe?
2steps

I put any we have in the compost bin
Treacodactyl

I sprinkle our wood ash in the garden, under fruit bushes and in the greenhouse where we grow tomatoes. The potash it contains seems to do the plants good and although it is alkaline as we garden on chalk I don't think it makes much difference to the soil ph.
mochyn

2steps wrote:
I put any we have in the compost bin


We do the same.
Sarah D

My wood ash goes around the broad beans - they love it.
mimborin

We put wood ash around the roses, it really helps them grow.
Just Jane

I seive it directly onto the vegetable beds for next year then the bits of charcoal left go back on the fire (or saved for the BBQ)
dougal

dougal wrote:
I'm sure some French cheeses are rolled in ash...
... and some hams are cured by being left in a box of ash rather than hung...

Cheeses seem to be particularly Goats milk cheeses that get this treatment.

Ham. I've got this nagging memory, that I'd heard of this somewhere, but can't find much detail online. There is this:
Quote:
At this point it's ready, though barely -- Many prosciutto makers age their prosciutto for 15 or more months in all. You may follow their lead, or, if you want to experience something truly special, seal it up in a wooden case surrounded by wood ash for two years.

http://italianfood.about.com/od/curedmeats/r/blr0698.htm

Cool
sean

Hmm, special isn't the same as good or delicious though...
Blue Sky

We still got a full ham hanging in our kitchen from January. It should be just about cured when you get here Sean Wink

(Guaranteed, no ash)
dougal

IIRC there are two reasons. To give a gently smokey flavour, without actual smoking, and to 'manage' the preservation conditions.
Wonder where I heard about this... (senior moments at my age... Rolling Eyes )
judith

dougal wrote:
IIRC there are two reasons. To give a gently smokey flavour, without actual smoking, and to 'manage' the preservation conditions.
Wonder where I heard about this... (senior moments at my age... Rolling Eyes )


Was it that Burton-Race chap? I have the book of the series somewhere and ISTR him talking about this.
(Unless I'm having a senior moment too!)
sean

Simon wrote:
We still got a full ham hanging in our kitchen from January. It should be just about cured when you get here Sean Wink

(Guaranteed, no ash)


Excellent. Try not to eat it all in early February please.
thos

When you have used all you can for ham and cheese, keep the rest dry until the spring. If you put it on the garden now, all the goodies will leach away.

I am currently putting mine in a wheeliebin (when properly cold, of course).
dougal

judith wrote:
dougal wrote:
IIRC there are two reasons. To give a gently smokey flavour, without actual smoking, and to 'manage' the preservation conditions.
Wonder where I heard about this... (senior moments at my age... Rolling Eyes )


Was it that Burton-Race chap? I have the book of the series somewhere and ISTR him talking about this.
(Unless I'm having a senior moment too!)

No, it wouldn't have been from him.

Mrs Grigson's Charcuterie mentions it (indexed under hams, storage). But the unrefrigerated french way would seem to be to encase in cotton or canvas, then cover with 'sifted' ash - she suggests from vine prunings or beech.

So, its traditional French AND Italian... Very Happy
Pea

I use mine in the veg and fruit and cutting flower garden, the compost bin etc.

I dont have a wheele bin to throw the excess in so I give it away to other veggie gardeners.

Pea
oldish chris

According to Lawrence Hills (Fertility Gardening 1980)

Wood ash from Spruce 19.7 % K2O (potash), 2.4% P2O5, (phosphorus pentoxide) 60.7 % CaO (Lime).
Nanny

Simon wrote:
Nanny wrote:
you can also use wood ash to cure skins


Now there's an idea Idea

Anybody got a recipe?


i have actually but haven't been able to try it out myself because of the move etc

there is a book called "deerskins into buckskins" that i get it from

it is based on the floating the egg in it like sally quotes for making soap

i can try and fidn the book and put it in the appropriate thread if you like - warning that it is a bit of a lengthy process which is why i haven't had the time.......
dpack

mine goes in the mixture tub
in the past ive used it in the compost toilet
suomi

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Laughing Sally we are going to try making lye,although that will have to wait for spring time as its winter here and the water will freeze! but theres plenty of garden it can go on Cool heres to lots more fires to keep us warm.
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