Gauteng Smallholder Gauteng Smallholder August 2017 | Page 34

IN THE GARDEN
Ash from a wood fire, prior to being spread and dug in.
From page 31
snails.
In the old days people used
ash to make soap and still use
it to polish silver, dull metals
and cloudy glass. Make a
paste of ash and water then
put on some rubber gloves
and spread this paste all over
your tarnished items. Let the
mixture sit for a few minutes
before wiping with a clean
cloth. Rub well to bring out
the shine.
Wood ash is alkaline and can
absorb and neutralise bad
smells. Try placing some ash in
a small bowl and leaving it in
the fridge or a stinky room,
but be sure to replace it with
new ashes after a few days.
Chickens need to bathe in
dust to keep themselves clean.
Wriggling and writhing around
in the soil is a social behaviour
that allows hens to clean their
feathers and skin while also
removing parasites such as lice
and mites. Mixed with sand,
wood ash makes a wonderful
dust bath substratum that your
chickens will love.
But it is in the garden that ash
comes into its own.
Wood ash is an excellent
source of lime and potassium
for your garden. Not only that,
using ash in the garden also
provides many of the trace
elements that plants need to
thrive. But wood ash fertiliser
is best used either lightly
scattered or by first being
composted along with the rest
of your organic waste. This is
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because wood ash will
produce lye and salts if it gets
wet. In small quantities, the
lye and salt will not cause
problems, but in larger
amounts, the lye and salt may
burn your plants.
For best results, ashes
obtained from hardwoods
have five times as many
nutrients per bundle as
softwoods, such as pine or
firs.
Don't use wood ash on
seedlings, as the salts will
damage young plants.
Never combine wood ash
with nitrogen fertilizers such
as urea, as doing so will
produce ammonia gas.
Wood ashes make a great
addition to the compost heap,
where they'll aid fertility (most
of the nutrients needed by
plants are contained in them
to some degree). If you have a
lot, don't add them all at once
as they are alkaline and
raising the pH too much will
affect the bacteria and worms
at work. It's better to keep the
ash in a nearby container and
sprinkle on a layer every so
often.
By the same token, don't
fertilise acid loving plants
such as berries, peppers or
azaleas and even potatoes
with ash as it will turn the soil
too alkaline for their liking.
If you tend to compost a lot
of acidic material, such as
fruit waste, the ashes will
help to keep the compost at
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