Adding fire ash to soil - good idea?

[DC Sunshine]

We're doing quite a lot of pruning and burning off at the moment - roses, lavender, shrubs etc - I was wondering if the remaining ash could be dug into the soil to improve it? I was thinking primarily of digging it into the veg garden. Would this adversely affect any future crops we plant?

[KYHeirloomer]

In theory, too much ash can sour the soil. I've never had it happen, though.

I actually burn off my brush and trimmings right on the vegetable garden surface, in the fall, then til the ashes in.

Caveat: I have limestone soil, which may serve as a foil to the ashes.

[OregonYeti]

Limestone and sinkholes . . .and you sure do know your wild fowl KY

[nowIamone]

I have always horded my ash to use under shrubs and spruce/pine trees when planting. Seems to really make a differance in how the plants root themselves before winter. If they have the ash placed beneath them, they don't seem to heave as much in freezing weather. I'm sure it just stimulates more small root growth that keeps them in place.

[Joyfull]

Well you guys are lucky! Try to burn anything garden wise and you'll have the fire department visiting you right away. With a lovely big fine to boot thank you very much!
Big no-no where I live..

[OregonYeti]

Joyfull, I wish it were that way here. Western Oregon is the grass seed capital of the world. The way they clear their fields after harvest is to burn them. The first time I saw that I thought there was a disaster going on, but it's common here. The smoke goes a couple miles up sometimes. It even caused a major 50-car accident once on a freeway when the wind shifted unexpectedly. The smoke gets to here (central Oregon) sometimes.

[DC Sunshine]

Thanks for the replies - I'll spread it far and wide so as not to make it acidic - I think its pretty well balanced at a guess - stuff grows well in the soil!

Burning off happens a lot around here - we're in a pretty rural area - little village. We're in the middle of sheep farming country here, and there's a pest of a bush called gorse which likes to take over everything. (It was mistakenly introduced as a supposedly wonder-feed for grazing animals - HA! nothing eats it). There was a burn-off which went for 2 weeks nearby, day in, day out. It didn't do much for my daughter's asthma or anyone's throats.

Plus the farmers trim the hedgrerows and burn off - you'll think there's a bushfire nearby but after a couple of years you get used to it and don't panic. It's been a drought here for years and smoke on the horizon is not a friendly sight.

[DC Sunshine]

Thanks for the replies - I'll spread it far and wide so as not to make it acidic - I think its pretty well balanced at a guess - stuff grows well in the soil!

Burning off happens a lot around here - we're in a pretty rural area - little village. We're in the middle of sheep farming country here, and there's a pest of a bush called gorse which likes to take over everything. (It was mistakenly introduced as a supposedly wonder-feed for grazing animals - HA! nothing eats it). There was a burn-off which went for 2 weeks nearby, day in, day out. It didn't do much for my daughter's asthma or anyone's throats.

Plus the farmers trim the hedgrerows and burn off - you'll think there's a bushfire nearby but after a couple of years you get used to it and don't panic. It's been a drought here for years and smoke on the horizon is not a friendly sight.

[shel]

Environmental laws are getting stricter in many places, and the kind of burns that some here are describing are illegal, and certainly a problem. in some places. However, using ash in some situations has not shown any detrimental results in the small gardens I've had. We'd use the ash from the grill when we'd use real wood, such as peach, apricot, grape vine cuttings, and so on.

Shel

[OregonYeti]

Yeah Shel, I got a little carried away, was off topic.

50 acres of burn is a whole lot different from what you are talking about.