What to do with ashes?


 
Tim McCann

Tim McCann

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Can charcoal ash be used for anything? Composting, spreading in the garden or flower beds? Or it just better to toss in the trash?? I used to just through out.
 
I don't think the additives in modern charcoal would be good for the garden. I place my ashes in a steel garbage can (dedicated to ashes) and after several days of sitting (making sure they are dead) I then put in the garbage. I am cautious about putting them in the garbage as I had heard of live coals being found several days after being placed in the container.

FWIW
Dale53
 
Do you have dog's? I dump ( no pun intended ) mine in the metal doggy do-do bucket which has a hefty bag in it. Controls odors till I toss in the trash.

Tim
 
Robert McGee said:
I don't think the additives in modern charcoal would be good for the garden. I place my ashes in a steel garbage can (dedicated to ashes) and after several days of sitting (making sure they are dead) I then put in the garbage. I am cautious about putting them in the garbage as I had heard of live coals being found several days after being placed in the container.

FWIW
Dale53
Click to expand...
robert is correct! also, the fats dripping from meats cooking above the charcoal is not good for composting.
ashes from your fireplace or woodstove, however, ARE good for composting or adding to your garden.
 
When I had a compost pile, I added the ashes to it. I figured most all of the harmful stuff would be burned off or the heat would have neutralized any negative substances in the briquets. But that's just my opinion... although the ashes never seemed to hurt anything I put the compost on.

However - "If in doubt, throw them out!" :D
 
I always read that ashes from lump can be sprinkled on gardens or flowers, so I did, ashes from briqs not so as the added whatever can burn out you're plants.

Tim
 
Ash from lump and natural briquette is wood ash and only harmful in that it will raise the pH some, which is ok if you have acidic soil, but I wouldn't recommend messing with soil pH unless you know it needs to be raised. Ash from K is mostly powered limestone and will raise the pH greatly. It also has coal ash. That's coal ash. not charcoal ash. Read up on coal ash and fly ash and decide if you want that in your garden. K also has a small amount of borax which I read somewhere that it's not good for citrus trees. A few cook outs worth of charcoal ash isn't going to kill your lawn or garden. Especially if you spread over a large area. But depending how much you dump and how often, over time it will have an effect. Dumping it in small areas will have a bigger effect. BTW, raising the pH won't burn the plants, not like over applying nitrogen. If you pile K ashes directly around plants the alkalinity may get so high it kills them. Raising the pH too high typically causes problems with plants being able to absorb nutrients like nitrogen and other elements.
 
I also have used some on ice. Definitely helps but does track in and make a mess, which means my wife, Julia, ends up not happy. Of course a smoked chicken always solves that problem.
Have a nice New Year.

Mike
 
I store mine in a steel can for a few days also. When it gets full I take it out in the woods and spread it all out in the pine trees. Been doing this for 24yrs and they trees are still healthy so I don't think its been bad for them but its also spread all out. I figure the ashes started as wood so why not take it back to the woods....Besides our curbside collection prohibits Ashes in the cans and even have stickers on them restricting dumping them in there. Hot ashes in a closed up dump truck could create quite the smoldering fire I would think. I remember yrs and yrs ago they dumped a truck in the middle of street due to a trash fire in it......
 
I put all of my ash (fireplace, KB, Comp K, lump) into my compost heap. I don't think it hurts as long as the ash content of your heap isn't over 10-15 percent.
 
Dumped in the back corner of the lot where there is no grass and just a junction of two hedges......no death there after 20 years...............
 
I toss them over my back fence, not sure what my neighbor does with them, I'll have to ask sometime, LOL. Kidding of course. I use disposable drip pans when I cook so I toss the ashes in the pan and they seem to absorb the drippings/grease so when I toss in my garbage can I don't have grease dripping everywhere.
 
I dump mine into a large metal trashcan. I save my old empty charcoal bags. Every few weeks, after I haven't dumped anything into the trash can in awhile, I take my charcoal scoop (metal ice scoop, $9 @ RD) and fill up the bags and put them out for the trash. I also dump grease and used foil in the same trash can, easy disposal.
 
I use a small galvey garbage can with lid and I have a FP shovel I use to shovel the ash. I do like JSM and save the bags and after a few days shovel the dead ash out of the can into the bags and out to the trash.
 
LarryR said:
I toss them over my back fence, not sure what my neighbor does with them, I'll have to ask sometime, LOL. Kidding of course. I use disposable drip pans when I cook so I toss the ashes in the pan and they seem to absorb the drippings/grease so when I toss in my garbage can I don't have grease dripping everywhere.
Click to expand...
Same here, works really well for soaking up the grease and tossing it the trash.
 
JSMcdowell said:
I dump mine into a large metal trashcan. I save my old empty charcoal bags. Every few weeks, after I haven't dumped anything into the trash can in awhile, I take my charcoal scoop (metal ice scoop, $9 @ RD) and fill up the bags and put them out for the trash. I also dump grease and used foil in the same trash can, easy disposal.
Click to expand...

I use the charcoal bags in my chimney starter...ripped up of course;) But I like idea too, I'll have to try that.
 
I now put mine in a metal can w/lid and leave it for at least a week before dumping into my greenwaste can. Here is a picture of what happened when I bypassed the metal can believing the ash was completely out.

FamilyFriendsFoodandFun-064.jpg
 
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