Oops, good point LP. Totally different thing. Ashes from the stove goes out into a field or maybe the firepit.
Ash tree: cut, split, stack, season, burn. Ashes: Out in the pasture or in the garden. OR, if you're feeling crafty and motivated..... How to Make Soap from Ashes - Modern Homesteading - MOTHER EARTH NEWS
Ash from the stove: into a galvanized trash barrel outside, when that's full, off to the soft yard waste area of the dump on a rainy or snowy day. I used to spread it on the lawn, but with a pet, too much of a mess.
Woodstove ash - When it's time to empty the ash bin, I put it in a metal barrel outside. From there, when the barrel is full, I move it to a wooded area and using a long handled shovel, I broadcast it into the woods. Preferably, with any wind blowing away from me. I also scatter some among the acid loving plants. Azaleas, rhododendron, mountain laurel, blueberry plants..etc.
Minus all the carbon. I'm saving them the work of hauling it off, burning it as biomass, and selling me electricity. Really that's just a guess, I don't know what happens to all the brush.
Not meaning to be nitpicky, but wood ashes are actually alkaline, not acidic. They will raise the soil pH.
On a windy day, I broadcast it sparse on our 2 acre lawn. Wind dispersal. It has nutrients, but no nitrogen.
