Hi Guys - Been burning for about a week or so and getting ready for my first clean out. Curious on what other folks do with their stove ash. In the previous couple of years I was just dumping it in the woods by the house, but I've since cleaned that area up for my wood racks and really don't want to dirty it up with piles of ash. What do you guys do with it? I was thinking about getting a 55 gallon drum and use it to my lye, then homemade soap, but I have enough projects as it is without taking on ANOTHER one...
It ends up in the chicken run after its sat for a few days in the steel bucket. Tire full of ash for them to Dust Bathe
Dump it in the woods. I have heard it helps fruit trees if spread around the dripline, but probably will continue dumping it.
First put it in a metal can for a few days to a week then when you are sure it has cooled down properly I spread it in the garden or dump it in the woods. ***very important to be sure the ash has cooled off***
Ash is an amazing insulator. I've pulled some glowing embers out of the stove and put them in the ash bucket, only to find them still glowing after a day. It's SUPER IMPORTANT to make sure that everything is cooled off before dumping it in the woods. A friend of mine learned the hard way and we found ourselves playing the part of woodland firefighters against our will. I've spread our ash in the garden before, along with some compost, but mostly it's dumped in the brush pile.
I have a friend that cleaned out his stove into a 5 gallon bucket and immediately set it outside the door. He had to build a new house.
I dump it on my gravel drive, fill in low spots in the weed lawn, dump it on wood chips, dump in the garden and dump around trees.
You have enough ashes in one week ? Most lawns can absorb and appreciate the alkalinity the ashes would impart if spread out lightly enough that they would disappear in the next light rain or snow.
I clean out about every two weeks of burning. One the stove is lit, we don't shut it off. It goes 24/7. I typically fill up one of those mini-garbage cans (10 gallon) every cleanout.
I keep a pile on the edge of the backyard. I put some on the driveway when it’s icy, and I spread the rest in the garden periodically.
what i usually do with mine is keep it in a 5 gal bucket then i empty it into low spots that opened up and sometimes spread it around the garden
Gravel drive where we don't typically walk. It disappears with weather. If it's to windy/dry to put it on the drive I put it inside my steel fire ring. Tip the ring in the spring and scoop the accumulation into my wheel barrow destined for the grove.
There is a 90 degree turn in the road where I winter. I will drop the ash onto the snow covered hard packed road so when someone comes around it driving like a nascar wanna-be, They don't knock on the door asking for some help from the ditch. Yes, it has happened at least four times that I recall right now.
When I'm dumping cool ashes. I use a long handled shovel and broadcast it in a long sweeping motion. It avoids piles of ashes anywhere.
My favorite use for ashes is for de-icing and de-snowing. Ashes contain some weak ions like salt while also making snow and ice darker. Ash ions will melt snow and ice down to around 25-27 deg F (nothing beats calcium chloride). The dark color will absorb sun rays and so raise the snow/ice temperature to this melt range at temperatures above 20 deg F. Below 20 deg F, ashes act like sand, only better since ashes stick to ice better than sand. After I get tired of a "white Christmas" in late winter, I paint all my snow piles with ashes to melt the snow piles much quicker. After seeing my neighbors woods dotted with ash "turd" piles, I thinly spread my excess ashes in the woods. Ashes are a good source of potassium and phosphorus for gardening but can turn soil basic which hurts most plants. Wood ashes are rated 0-1-3 as a fertilizer. I store my ashes in 5 gallon metal cans for several days before spreading in the woods.
I've also used it on ice on the walkway. It works well but it does make a bit of a slurry mess on your shoes so that part is not so great. I have a dedicated ash container (all steel) that was given to me and I just empty it into that and leave it outside. If it rains it's even better since that will put out any embers that are still live....... Here's a great video on how you can use potash in the garden. I'll be spreading it out in my raised garden beds that have garlic atm and tomatoes in the spring.
