I hope all of you survived this last week’s cold and snow after New Year’s.
A reader from the butcher shop in Jeromesville, asked an unusual question years ago. Concern filled her inquiry about throwing wood ash in her garden. She wondered whether the practice of spreading wood ash in the garden was something a person should do.
At the beginning of the year December, the radio host where I am guest regularly asked whether there were any toxins in the ash or smoke that we should be aware of.
Since we have had some severe low temperatures, my thoughts have turned to folks who fear burning extra wood in their stove or fireplace. Smoke from these fires can also be a concern.
Thirty years ago, when I was married to my first wife, we used a lot of wood in our wood stove to heat our home. We averaged one coal bucket out of our stove once every other week wasn’t anything.
My folks would generally faithfully spread the wood ash from their fireplace on their garden. But their gardens did not experience much improvement from this practice.
According to one of my Amish neighbors, they typically spread wood ash from their cookstoves over their gardens most of the year. The challenge is that if nothing actively grows in your garden, the chance of the wood ash just going to the stream and not sticking is very high.
Nutrient retention to benefit the soil this time of year is questionable. Including wood ash in a compost pile should have a better chance at being helpful.
First, if you know the nutrient levels in your garden, you will apply the proper amount of nutrients to add to it.
Therefore, test your garden’s soil and get a base point from which you can add nutrients intelligently. This testing could have occurred when settling your garden in for the winter.
Today, this testing is more difficult.
In wood ash, you can generally see potash at 10% of the volume of the ash, phosphate at 1%, and trace amounts of iron, manganese, boron, copper, and zinc. Some trace heavy metals are lead, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, and chromium.
Phosphorous is an essential component of the nutrients taken up by plants for their growth, regulating a plant’s water balance.
I learned that potassium is significant in transporting food within the plant and creating sugars and starches. Without potassium, vegetables are more susceptible to drought, frost, pests, and diseases.
Wood ash or potash, not lumber waste or coal ash, contains potassium. Amazingly, a cord of wood, a 4x4x8; stack of wood, contains an average of 25 pounds of ash. Most of it is ideal for the garden.
Here is the challenge: a cord of oak will provide enough potassium for a garden that is 60 x 70 feet, whereas a cord of Douglas fir will produce enough potassium for a 30 x 30 feet garden, and both will raise the pH of the soil slightly.
Hardwoods like oak generally produce more ash and contain more nutrients, potentially three times that of softwood and more trace nutrients than softwoods. The calcium carbonate content that is left in the wood ash also varies.
This means that when you use the wood ash in your garden, you should not only test your soil before you start adding wood ash, but you should also test your soil after you have been adding your wood ash to your soil at least every six months.
We go back to my initial statement that if your potassium is already high in your garden, you shouldn’t be adding wood ash.
The same answer applies to pH; if you are above 7.0, you should add wood ash judiciously to your soil, and not at all if you are above 7.5. If you have reached this point, consider helping your lawn at 10 to 15 pounds per 1000 square feet with the same guidelines.
Without monitoring the wood ash application, you can burn your plants. Wood ash can also be one of the components to either compost tea or compost. You want to keep your wood ash covered and protected for ease of use and no loss of nutrients because rainwater can wash away the potassium.
Acid-loving plants like blueberries, rhododendrons, and hydrangeas, will be harmed by adding wood ash.
When dry, wood ash can control slugs and snails. As you sow carrots, sprinkling wood ash in the rows can keep the turnip-fly away before applying any water. If you sprinkle wood ash in a dry form over turnips and carrots, you can also deter turnip flies.
Root crops such as parsnips, carrots, beets, peas, beans, and fruit do better with wood ash. Do not apply to potato rows.
I hope you all have a great New Year. If you have any gardening problems, indoors or out, or bird issues, email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.