Ashes to…

One of the things that I really enjoy during our long New England winters is the comfort of wood heat. At home, I've got a dual wood/oil furnace in the basement as our main source of heat. As fall descends, we typically just punch up the oil furnace to about 68. Lots of people will only allow 62, maybe 65. Heating oil is expensive and so we hardy northerners buck up and just put an extra layer on. Once we hit December, though, and all our firewood (or at least almost all) is stacked in rows downstairs, it's time to start the wood furnace! I really appreciate the warmth of it and try to keep it around 70. Any warmer, and my partner, Joe, starts to mutter about it being too warm. He'll punch down the wood furnace thermostat low enough to shut off the little blower that fans the fire, encouraging it to die down. If I've got a day alone, though, just sitting at my computer working, I'll let it get up to around 72 and it's darn cozy! Cleaning the ash out of the furnace is a monthly chore that I don't mind. If you let the ash get too deep, new fires don't burn as well. They need oxygen exposure on all sides to burn nice and hot. A good hot fire also leaves you with super fine ash and helps prevent the build-up of creosote. But, what is there to do with all that ash? Here's a few ideas. Some I readily perform and others were new to me: Enrich your soil. The most obvious use of wood ash is as an alkaline amendment to your soil in both your gardens and on your lawns. Here in Dublin, our bony soil is highly acidic clay. Ideally, you'd work the ash into the soil when you till the garden or layer it into your compost pile. Since the ground is frozen, you can either save the ash in cans until spring or you can simply broadcast the ash on top of the snow and frozen earth. Some will inevitably wash away but a good portion of it will eventually soak into the ground when temperatures get warmer. Be sure it's pure cordwood ash. Don't use the ash if you've burned treated, painted or stained wood. Good wood ash is a terrific soil sweetener and will help your lawns as well Wood ash as a cleaner. If you have a woodstove or fireplace with glass doors or a glass viewing panel, you know how grimy that glass gets. Well, ash is a mild abrasive and when mixed with a little water to turn it into paste, makes a great cleaner. Give glass or metal a good scrub with the paste and then rinse off with warm water. Don't use it on your windows or mirrors, though, since it could lightly scratch the surface Ash is a desiccant! It absorbs moisture. If you've got a damp basement or garage, put an uncovered bucket of ash in and it will absorb moisture from the air Ash gets rid of bad odors. An open canning jar of wood ash in your fridge will absorb odors just like a box of baking soda. Same with a room that has a musty or moldy smell. Make some soap! Just do a search online for any number of homemade soap using ash. Ash and water combined make lye… the basis for old fashioned soap. It'll make you feel like a real New England homesteader! Ice melter and traction aid. I remember my Dad using wood ash on icy areas in the driveway and on the paths to outbuildings. It won't melt as quickly as salts and other chemicals do but it will absorb the sun's rays and speed up the natural melting process. Similar to sand, ash can give you traction on ice. Just be sure to take your shoes off at the door. Soak up oil spills. In your garage or on your driveway, every homeowner inevitably will have an occasional spill of motor oil, gasoline or antifreeze. If you don't have any kitty litter on hand, wood ash works just as well. Just pour enough ash to cover the spill, give it a minute to soak up and then just sweep it up and dispose of it. You definitely don't want to use your oil-soaked ash for anything else so just put it in the trash. Keep pests at bay in the garden. A circle of ash around plants in the garden will keep certain bugs from climbing on up for a snack. Not all bugs but some and, plus, that ash will again provide nutrients such as aluminum, magnesium, phosphorus and sodium in trace amounts. Brush your teeth with ash?! Just adding this final one because I thought it was funny. One article I read said some folks actually use ash to brush their teeth… making use of the mildly abrasive nature of ash. I'm certainly not recommending this, but it does provide a great mental picture!