Bright idea: WOOD ASH

[katjamiles]

Sooooo....we have a lot of natural debris and I have been thinking that it would be fun to burn it all and use the ash. Ash is used and can be used for many things! I googled some fun videos on making soap (the process is seems to take forever though).Wood ash is also commonly used to put out the fire palace/pit fires and melting the ice/snow. Historically and culturally it was used in food, art glazing and building materials, cleaning activities (odor control), and farming (like composting, crops/gardens and dust baths/pest repellent and soaking animal hides), I also noted other ideas like: dehumidifying the air and as an anti-mold product, toothpaste (eep!) wound treatment, tattooing and cosmetics. When this idea hit me, I found an article (https://practicalselfreliance.com/wood-ash-uses/) detailing most of the uses above. WOOT WOOT!

Comments

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Bear in mind that some uses need a particular type of ash, like soap needs hardwood ash for maximum lye strength. Gardening and other outdoor uses are more flexible.

[wayfaringwordhack]

I use wood ash as a fertilizer in the garden and put some in the straw flooring in the chicken coop, as well as where the hens take their dust baths. I am about to apply some in hopes of controlling our out-of-hand flea beetle problem. For two years now, I have struggled to get any of my cruciferous vegetables to survive in face of the flea beetles' voracious attacks. :(

I have always wanted to try soap-making with it but feel daunted by the length of the project. So much else to do!