How I Use Wood Ash In My Garden
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- I heat my house with wood, and one of the bi-products of that is wood ash, which happens to have many trace minerals. In this episode I show how I broadcast the ash over my garden beds to take advantage of this resource, and add mineral content to my soil.
Thanks for watching, and if you enjoyed this content, please share and/or subscribe to my channel. You can also check out my free audio podcast where I discuss how to grow healthy food in your backyard cheaply and easily.
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Love the flower pot trick! Will have to remember that one
Thanks!
Hi - just discovered your channel and have watched for hours. Love the hugelculture-themed videos esp. I`m at my 2nd year of gardening and have a small garden, but I love it. I pick carefully what you tube gardening channels to trust and I really like yours. Thanks for all inspiration!! Best regards from Norway
Hey thanks that's so nice to hear :) I hope you have a great garden this year!
What a great idea to use the pot to spread the ash. I must give that one a try. Thanks.
Thanks - hope it helps :)
Hi Greg: Just discovered your wonderful videos, and already have had HOURS OF enjoyment. And though I've been gardening for many years, there is clearly lots more to learn. Thank you for sharing your knowledge this way.
Thanks, this feedback makes it all worthwhile. All the best to you :)
also a great anti-slip coat for the driveway!
Glad to find your channel
I live in northern New York State, my wife and I purchased property in Lunenburg Co. NS in 2014. Thanks for the gardening info. For this area. I will be watching.
You picked a beautiful place to buy land! And from a gardening point of view, definitely better than my location, even though you're less than an hour's drive from me. It's more protected there, less windy, and much warmer in the summer.
Thank You! I have the same cold winter here in Norway. Have gone skiing every day in the holidays. I also spreed my wood ashes in my garden. Good idea to strain it, though. The vegetables I didn’t dig up earlier have to stay until warmer (scorzonnera and Jerusalem artichokes, amongst others). I also pick up a lot of sea weed and put in my garden beds.
Seaweed is amazing! Good to see you enjoying your winter!
Really got a chuckle out of the flower pot ash applicator.
:)
Grateful for this video! We also use a wood stove! Brilliant ideas in all your videos!
Thanks for watching!
That charcoal that you sifted out is biochard. It has numerous micro holes that provides a home for beneficial bacteria. Beneficial bacteria works synergistically with plants & helps them in numerous ways to be healthy & productive.
Well for every big piece i sifted out there was probably ten small pieces that got left in.
I use wood ash in my Maine garden in the wet Spring, as I feel much the ash blows away in the dry, windy months of winter. I love Nova Scotia!
I'm always afraid of using too much, so that's why I lay it down so early. It's pretty wet here, and most of it gets down into the mulch anyway. Glad to hear you're fan of NS. I guess we're just a ferry ride away :)
Happy New Year, Greg. I've been scattering my wood ash over my strawbales to get a head start on breaking them down for the 2018 growing season. Happy Gardening!
It's so hard to wait for winter to go away :)
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, Very helpful. I like you a lot. Thanks for doing a great job!
Thanks :)
Very resourceful and clever, I would love to pick your brain about gardening.
Thanks!
You are so creative. Good idea on using a flower pot. I will do that in January as well. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
@@maritimegardening4887 also how do I to to make a donation please? I am learning a lot from your knowledgeable videos. You use similar vocabulary to the ones that are in my spiritual studies such as 'cause and effect for example'.
Big pieces of charcoal(biochar) are good for the garden. Great videos.Happy New Year from NB.
Thanks and same to you!
Great video, I do that as well, but something you said about calcium carbonate rang a bell with me, as it is good for tomatoes. That must be why. Thank you :)
Happy New Year! Really enjoy your videos. It was -31F in Saranac Lake, NY this morning...:-( Only 6 more months of winter here, we say ... :-)
That is crazy cold Sir! I didn't know MY could get that cold!
Wood ash is great for the plants, if youve ever read or saw the works of Dr. Joel Wallach, he talks a lot about the increase in a lot of diseases being tied to our use of electric stoves and not putting ash on our gardens(or for a lot of city ppl, even growing their own food).
I've never heard of Joel Wallach, I'll have to check him out, thanks.
yw, he has products, theyre MLM, and when i asked about the high aluminum, i didnt get a reply, might not want bother with them, but his info on youtube and such is good info regarding minerals and disease.
Not usually a good idea to get information from someone who peddles MLM products.
Good tips thanks
I use wood ash in my shredded Red Alder ramial wood compost. So when I dig it in and use it as mulch I wanna put a cover over it so the nutes don't wash out. Greets from Port McNeill, zone 8a rain belt.
I bet red alder makes a wonder mulch!
Wood ash does great in our ponds too.
You never really have an Algae Problem, per se. What you have is a pH problem that allows the Algae to get the upper hand. We used to fight with chemicals, Copper Sulphate, and all manner of crap that didn't work. Now, we throw a 5-gallon bucket of our saved wood-stove ash in the pond about every 6-8 weeks and it all works out. (We have about an acre of pond, so 5-gallon bucket isn't really much, by volume.
It's free, and it's the only thing that actually worked after a decade of trying.
Fascinating!
Jason Paul sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Algae is symptomatic of high levels of bioavailable Nitrogen in the water. Raising the pH, makes the Nitrogen less bioavailable, but also makes it toxic to fish.
There has been no detectable decline in fish population. Or frogs. Or turtles. Or snails. Or anything else living in the pond. The Copper, OTOH, made the snails disappear and is *definitely* more harmful to ALL the wildlife in the waters.
Raising the pH only makes it "toxic" if you exceed the threshold that fish can safely live in.
There happens to be a nice range where raising pH makes it significantly much more difficult on Algae, and not at all detrimental to the fish and other wildlife.
It's all about a balance.
An algae mat that's 10 feet thick and you can walk on is a clear and present sign that things are out of balance and need to be brought back into a nominal range.
EDIT: I say again, this time with emphasis: If you have uncontrolled algae - you don't have an algae problem. You have a pH problem.
But I'm reading everywhere else that high pH causes algae growth. So what pH range is meant by balance? Am confused...
I don't particularly care what you are reading. If you have an algae problem in your pond and tried everything else ... try wood ash. Report YOUR results here, not "what you are reading". It works like a charm.
Or don't.
Your choice.
When should you add ash to a new hügelkultur mound? What layer should you add the ash? Im wondering if it would be beneficial to mix into the top soil or should it be added a layer down and covering it with the top soil. Thanks. Great content.
I would add it in late fall so the rain and snow can work it in over the winter
HAHAHAHA...... I am sorry but -10 C, you lucky bugger. That's a very nice winter compared to zone 3 in Minnesota USA.
-14 C where I am would feel like a heatwave.
I also burn wood and have always used my wood ash on the garden and never worry about how heavy I put it on, and have never had an issue with the ph and growing plants that prefer a more acidic soil. But I also put a lot of organic matter into my garden every year.
I suppose if a person is using wood ash and very little to no other organic matter in the garden it may bring the soil to a higher alkaline state.
The past few years I have moved to a no till garden and use wood chips, bark, saw dust from the wood I cut up for heat every year, and WOW what a difference in how much sweeter my veggies are.
Even my rhubarb has gained in sweetness since using wood chips, etc.
Good to see you're employing a permaculture approach in your garden! Also nice to hear another fan of wood ash! Garden on! :)
Grounded helpful information, thanks. Organic matter is just so important isn’t it!?
This spring I spread my wood ash on my lawn instead of lime the moss is gone and the grass never looked better
clearly needed the alkaline treatment
Happy New Year
Thanks!
Hi Greg, I'm in zone "5b" here in northern Colorado where last year I began a project of building soil (studying permaculture stuff on YT) and started to make my own charcoal that I am innoculating with compost and worm casting tea and urine and crushing it with a the biggest sledge hammer I could find before adding it to my v heavy clay soil. I'm hoping to get the Soil Food Web going to the point where the cover crops and so forth are able to synergies with the microrhiarea (never remember how to spell that) and this will allow me, hopefully, to not have to have all my gardens in raised beds. Anyway, when I see you putting the ash on your gardens I wonder if that would be a problem for me here, bc it would contribute to an even more alkalinity... any thoughts?
Hi Joyce - wow you sound pretty determined to build that soil! :) Like you, my soil was all heavy clay before I started here, so have faith! Re pH: that all depends on your soil, what the pH is right now, how much ash you add, and what time of year you add it. I add it in December just to be safe. I'll not be planting anything for at least 4 months, so the rain and snow will dilute and distribute everything for me. If your soil is alkaline, then I'd lay off the ash. Here in N.S., we tend to get acid rain, so things tend to be on the acidic side - though to be honest, I've never tested my soil. I just mulch and add layers of different things each year and it seems to work out. Hope that helps
I appreciate your keeping things as simple as possible, Greg... I'll also be mulching heavily each year. I bought my husband a soil test kit for Christmas this year bc I have never wanted to get into that type of effort my self. He's a scientist so I'm hoping he'll figure sth out that will be helpful. . Growing directly into the clay earth is new and exciting for me and I hope it goes well. I really hope to start building that layer of true sol and get it deeper and deeper. Thanks for your videos. I always laugh when you hop around in a crouched position bc your knees must be in great shape! Thanks for your reply.
Funny about the knees - sometimes I have to edit out when I grunt and groan while getting up :)
Maritime Gardening lol!
1 year, wow. Did you all stay warm?
Yes :)
Greg,
Can you put the entire wood stove ashes around old apple trees that are not looking too healthy, 7:49 some are mixed with other trees near my garden??
Gregg from Cape Breton
It would really depend on why they are unhealthy. Wood ash is mostly high in potash. If they need potash (which is unlikely) then it will help - otherwise it will do nothing, or possibly make the soil too alkaline and make things worse
Happy New Year neighbor.
Same to you - all the best!
Cheers!
I put everywhere except my potato bed. I have wondered if it would hurt those?
Well, they say potatoes prefer acidic soil, so given that ash make the soil alkaline, you are probably doing the right thing.
Funny , I use a Chinese noodle strainer for sifting my ashes lol . There is a lot more snow in my part of the province than you have so far ...
Where are you Iso? NS? - Sorry if you've already told me :)
Kings county , a few minutes from Hall's Harbour ; )
According to Vessey's I'm in zone 5B here .
Really?
I guess thats' possible, there's a tiny strip near the B.O.F that appears to be Z5b www.veseys.com/media/garden_static/Canada-Hardiness-Zone-Map.jpg
Brrrrrr, I suddenly feel warm at 19.
ha ha!
I put ash on the garden and the surplus goes to the chickens.
I've heard of people giving it to the chickens - what do they do with it?
They eat it and it adds natural minerals to their diet. (just like for plants)
People buy it in the store for upset stomachs and to take toxins out of their bodies.
For animal and people uses you really should be picky about what trees you burn.
Deciduous trees and fruit trees are best for people and animal use.
I see, thanks!
Finally burned the brush pile that covered the biggest part of my garden,scattered over the rest,so we will see.
Wood Ash is not ideal for all plants, it is high in Calcium carbonate so will alter the soils PH level making it more Alkaline.... for Soil that is already Alkaline this can make it too Alkaline for some palnts, also if your soil is Acidic and you grow Acid loving plants this will make the soil temporarily neutral or alkaline so not all of the plants will want to grow
Soils where I am tend to be acidic. By adding it this time of year - with a all the rain and snow (also acidic) - it's really not a problem. I agree that it's not recommended for alkaline soils.
Boss y did u take so long for this small info
Good idea, but you're breathing in all that ash! I'd wear a mask or a scarf over the face for protection.
I got by ok, but thanks for your concerns :)