5 Great Reasons To Save Wood Ashes

There is nothing more primal in this day and age like humans around a fire. If you take the time to burn a good fire bring a child around the flames. Safely. Watch the wild eyes of the child as the flames lick up into the sky. There is a connection that happens instantaneously. It goes as far back as the stone age.

Hopefully you have enough wood cut for your fireplace or your wood stove this winter. There is no better feeling than having a full stock of wood for the winter and being prepared for whatever nature throws at you.

As you burn up all the wood that keeps you warm you will be left with ashes. This wood ash can go into a trash can or into your backyard to dispose of it. Or you could consider some of these powerful uses for wood as following a good burn. After you look at these uses you may look at that pile of spent wood ash a little differently.

Enhance the Compost Pile

Wood ash is a mineral rich dust that should never just be disposed of. Understanding this fact will help you understand how it can enrich your compost pile. Be careful though. Too much ash can ruin your whole pile. This shouldn’t be the go to disposal method but it’s a source to utilize

Soap

Ash is one of the main ingredients in creating lye for soap. This is not a hard process and I recommend giving it a shot at least once in your life.

Scent

On the subject of hygiene ash has long been an answer for the stench of smelly ‘skunked’ dogs. The minerals get into the coat and kill the odor of a skunked dog. This will also work for yourself

Shining your Stack

If you mix some ashes into a paste you can use the paste to shine up your silver. If you are a smart stacker of silver you may have some pieces, perhaps junk silver, that could use a good polish. It’s always fun to count your precious metals so do so with a little ash paste to clean them. It could also work on silver jewelry as well.

Soft Bodied Garden Pests

Things like slugs and snails can do a tremendous amount of damage to your garden if they are left unchecked. A sprinkling of wood ash over the surface of your garden will give you a protective layer that will devastate their soft bodies and keep them from getting to your plants

Speaking of the garden, some people also bury ashes with their calcium hungry plants like tomatoes to keep the levels high.

Two cords of firewood will burn down to about 100lbs of ashes. That is no laughing matter. How you look at this ash is a testament to your dedication to a self-reliant lifestyle. Take advantage of as much of this ash as possible. As you can see its more than just trash.