The Log Book by Will Rolls

The Log Book by Will Rolls

Author:Will Rolls
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Permanent Publications
Published: 2013-04-14T16:00:00+00:00


* The ordinary stuff, not glossy magazines.

5. Maintenance

ASH REMOVAL AND DISPOSAL

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If you are only burning clean wood, then ash disposal is not a problem. Ash from clean wood is a low nitrogen fertiliser and is quite safe to put on your compost heap (though do try not to breathe it in). If you find that the ash blows all over the place when you’re removing it from the stove, I’d recommend investing in a plant mister to very slightly dampen the top layer and prevent it from flying around. Be careful not to get the firebrick lining of the stove wet as this will tend to make it crack when you light the stove. Don’t use your vacuum cleaner to empty out the fireplace unless you are absolutely sure it is cold. Spark resistant cleaners are available, but they are very expensive and not really necessary for a domestic setting.

Coal ash, and the ash of anything that isn’t virgin wood (i.e. as it grows in the tree, with nothing added) is suspect, and a lot less nice to have lying around. It is much more likely to have unsavoury components such as heavy metals in it and should really go straight to landfill. Again, do make sure it’s completely cold before you put it in the bin. I suggest you leave it in a metal bucket outside the back door for a couple of days to really make sure (and if it gets rained on, so much the better).

A note on uses for ash

Clean wood ash has a number of uses, these vary from simply where you dispose of it, to some that need you to be a bit more keen to try. As a chemical it is alkaline and caustic, it is also an abrasive, which makes it useful for a range of household jobs.

Fertiliser

The most common use for wood ash is as a low-nitrogen fertiliser (potash). This means that at the very least, you can dump it in the corner of your garden with the grass clippings without worrying that it’s going to cause a problem.

Ash is commonly added to compost, this can be a bit of a mixed blessing for two reasons:

Many of the chemical constituents of wood ash are highly soluble in water, so if you have a compost heap that is uncovered, you may find that the increase in fertility in the compost is negligible, while the surrounding area becomes a bit of a jungle.

Because wood ash is alkaline in nature, it will tend to react with acidic compounds within the compost heap (these tend to crop up in materials which are high in nitrogen such as fresh manure, and grass clippings). This reaction releases ammonia that not only removes nitrogen from the compost, it also smells pretty awful.

Instead of adding ash to the compost, you may find that it is better to add it directly to the soil, where any leaching will result in a local increase in fertility as the soluble compounds will be immobilised by uptake into growing plants.



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