Applying Wood Ashes
Many of us have been told that we should use wood ashes in our vegetable gardens as a fertilizer substitute.
Now, I heard that this may not be a good idea. (Source: Mark Keaton’ Extension News: Be Cautious in using wood ashes)
Wood ash may contain some important nutrients like phosphorus, (typically 7% and potash 23%)
However its not uncommon to see high levels of salts in the soil. Mark points out that their office has seen levels of 800 pounds of pure potash.
I agree with Mark, testing is the key. Midwest Laboratories provides this type of testing and right now we are receiving a fair number of fertilizer samples for analysis.
Great article Mark!
