Great Uses For Your Wood Ash

 
Chances are if you’re going to be burning wood to heat your home this winter, you’re going to have a ton (maybe literally!) of ash by the end of the season, before you just toss the ash aside, there are plenty of useful ways to re-use it!

Wood ash is extremely alkaline and contains potassium and calcium. It can also contain sulfur, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, magnesium and molybdenum, all of which are great for your plants depending upon your type of soil.

Enriching the Soil
Wood ash is great for certain types of soil, specifically soil that is overly acidic. Almost without fail, alkaline-loving plants such as onions, garlic and leeks will flourish if you add a bit of wood ash to the soil around them. The exception to this is if the pH of your soil is over 7. In that case, you may not want to use wood ash because it contains potassium and is very alkaline. It’s great to mix in if your soil is acidic but if it’s not, you’ll make matters worse.
If you decide to use wood ash in your soil, don’t apply it straight to your raw compost pile because it’ll react with the nitrogen and turn it straight to ammonia. You’ll lose that nitrogen that you’re working so hard to get. If you’re going to add ash to your compost in order to decrease the acidity (raise the pH), add it to mature, ready to use compost.

Wood Ash Protects Your Garden
Spread wood ash around your gardens to protect it from certain bugs that are harmful to your plants. It serves as a barrier to slugs and snails and some say that it protects against some beetles, too.

Use Wood Ash to Do the Dishes
Tossing a bit of wood ash into your dirty skillet will produce enough lye (and friction) to get your camp skillets good and clean. Some people even use it raw as soap.

Give Your Chickens a Spa Day
Chickens naturally roll in dirt as a way to cleanse themselves. This protects them from insects and pests such as mites and lice. However, if your chickens can’t roam, finding a nice dusty place to roll may be a challenge for them. Mix wood ash and sand equally and place it in a litter pan or baby pool, or just dump it in a corner of their pen. The wood ash kills mites and lice and the sand keeps the ash from blowing away.

De-Skunk Fido
Nothing is more disgusting than the smell of a dog that’s been skunked but if you have some extra wood ash, you’re golden. Just rub the ash into his fur and it will neutralize the odor.

For more ways to make use of all of your leftover wood ash, head on over to Survivopedia and read the rest of Theresa Crouse's article.