So I was talking to my dad yesterday and he was telling me that back in the day on the farm they would coat the driveway with all the wood ash year round. I asked if that was to melt snow or provide traction and he said no, it somehow sheds off water easier and makes the driveway less muddy in the rainy seasons. I think I will be doing this to try and change the Ph in the soil to cut down on weeds in the summer, but has anyone hear of doing that for this reason before?
We set up a mud room because of all the manure, so a little ash in my case wouldn't be so bad, but I could see that being an issue for some people.
Ashes is spread to give instant traction on snow/ice, and then it will help melt it too...back in the day everybody kept a container of it in the car trunk for emergencies. It does make a mess though...
I know those reasons and have used them at times, but he was talking about using year round on the driveway to create a top coat of sorts.
Sounds like something old timers just made up. They have some things that were good and others that were hogwash...I’m going with the second on this one
Makes sense. I don’t have a mud room, and I live in the sticks - so I’m always tracking everything inside
It may have been, I have read where ash was used on dogs to help with ticks. Hogs often got ticks & lice so a bit of ash may have served a purpose there also.
I track everything in too, but as per internet protocol, I was trying look like I don't. We still have the mud room, but in the spring that room spreads into the breakfast room and kitchen.
It used to be used in litter boxes for odor control too. Or at least that's what I learned from my 10 minute google research.
Ha ha. You nailed it. She’s always on me about “blasting into the house at 100 miles per hour, and tracking snow/ice/mud everywhere” She’s lucky to have me...
As far as ash drying out mud, some industries use fly ash to mix with drill cuttings to absorb oil & help thicken them up ( dry them up ) but those mediums were mixed/stirred with an excavator not just a topical treatment.
I have seen them do that also but they generally had a specific machine for doing that, it was a pretty interesting process. I forget how long it was supposed to be effective for. The process I was referring to used fly ash mixed with drill cuttings in a containment pit. Probably the same principle just slightly different processes.
Ash and mud can mix together and setup like a concrete. Just put on a driveway and I'd think it would just grind back into dust in short time. My wife keeps a bucket of ash for winter traction. We usually throw it in the compost pile or garden. The chickens like to dust bath in it to keep bugs and mites away.
