Ashing the fields
Adding wood ash to the fields will add to the soil alkalinity and add calcium and phosphorus to the soil. We did some basic testing using a kit in my previous post to find out the general levels of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. It was lacking in some areas so it is time to condition the area we are planning on growing in soon.
https://peakd.com/hive-114308/@solominer/soil-testing-the-fields
Previous post
I collect the ash in trash cans and pour it into my tractor once I have enough to spread out in the fields.
I turn the firewood I collect into wood ash, which is high in phosphorous and calcium. It is also a good source for potassium and magnesium.
After a month all of this ash piles up, so I am glad I have a place to put it and make sure of its properties.
My 30 gallon trash can is completely full of cold ash. I only put the hot ashes in my metal buckets first and once they cool they go in these plastic trash cans.
I drive the tractor over and tip the big trash can into the bucket, and it falls out pretty easily. Make sure to wear a face mask, its quite ashy.
Driving the tractor over an area where we designated 1 acre to grow garlic next year. I will pour it in that area.
I love driving the tractor.
Making sure to set the AC to recirculate I then start pouring the wood ash into the fields.
It takes a minute for the ash to settle and we can see the line I made of it while backing up.
When it rains, the water will drive the wood ash into the ground. And hopefully soon I can retest and see what my levels are. I may find a county office to send my soil results off to, I need to look what resources are in my area.
Looking forward to testing again, hopefully we have raised the alkalinity of the soil and raised the levels of phosphorus. Other things like calcium, manganese, carbon and other nutrients can be found in this ash. And with it being water soluble unlike lime it should react much faster.
So what's next?
We add more wood ash, I have only added around 300 pounds so far. An acre calls for at least 6000 pounds so I have a long way to go.
This is a long term project, so it may be a few months before I have enough ash in the soil worth to test again.
But in the mean time we also need to work more nitrogen into the soil, we plan on taking wood chips and tilling them into the grow area. On top of that, using old hay bales from last year should be nitrogen rich and act to boost the soil while the wood chips break down over many months/years. So tilling in both wood chips and hay bales that have been curing for awhile should be good for adding nitrogen into the soil. I guess we will find out next time I test the dirt again.
Wow you are doing amazing job. The corp that will be plant here will really enjoy. It is a big project you are doing, i will come help you at least to burn the firewood.
Haha thanks man
Interesting.
yes
This is one cool small tractor :) .... WHat you can say, is this good Tractor Jone Deer 4066 ?
Thanks man, its probably comparable.
Man I never even thought of the conditioning of the soil as one of the huge undertakings of building a homestead. Ash huh? Who knew? You will really have to have a lot of camp fires to burn 6000 pounds of ash and I wonder about what that does to the atmosphere.
I can't wait to see how it turns out and how your huge forest garden will look and produce this summer!
Solid work that brings you closer to your true purpose here I bet.
Yep there is a lot to it, it would seem.
Hehe yeah well my wood furnace burns ash faster than a campfire so it should not take all that long.. Honestly if I was paying for propane it would be worse for the environment depending on how its produced, or using electricity produced by coal factories so burning my own wood does not seem that bad to me.
Oh definitely. Being the steward of the land and helping the soil balance out with a byproduct of the heat is legit!
The ash is a good option to nourish the soil, where I live I can not grow I have certain plants in pots and what I did was to dehydrate the banana peel to mix it with water and add it to the plants, but all very rudimentary
Oh cool, thats great you found a solution in your area.. did not think about using banana peels.
The land is quite large and quite beautiful. The world of agriculture certainly really needs land and especially has sophisticated tools to plow the land, Or to do other things with sophisticated tools that are good enough to optimize and speed up the agricultural process.
Thank you, yeah it is nice having these tools.. indeed it has sped up the process.
You were definitely born for this! You just get better and better with your methods bro.
I didn't know firewood ash is good to add to the soil and have been throwing away my ashes. I might try adding a little to some soil in the future :D Need to get the testing down first though.
Hah thanks man, yeah lots to learn still.
Yeah its good for non-acid loving plants. Cannabis probably wont benefit from it as it likes more acid soils but other plants may like it. Probably best to test first like you said.
6000 pounds definitely is a long way to go, but I guess you have enough wood in the surroundings to produce that much ?
It seems like a lot but I produce a few hundred pounds every month, so in a year or two we should..
There are constantly downed trees around here we can collect.
A busy guy :)
hehe sure are!
You are doing an amazing job, I believe the soil will really be fertile. The ash is much which requires you burning more firewoods. Well-done!
I hope it will be.. thanks
This is cool. While reading I couldn't help but wonder how long the process would have been for you if there was no tractor to help you spread the ashes around the field.
Manually spreading ashes on 1 acre of land would have been quite strenuous if one had to do it by hand. Maybe that's where you would have needed to employ more labour there by increasing the cost.
I like the fact that you love driving the tractor. I hope the results from the county office will be positive so you can proceed.
Have a great time. Compliment of the season @solominer
Indeed it would take a very long time without this machinery.
Hehe yeah driving the tractor is fun, and thanks.. we shall see how those tests turn out.
Hello solominer!
It's nice to let you know that your article will take 6th place.
Your post is among 15 Best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by nuthman
You receive 🎖 1.7 unique LUBEST tokens as a reward. You can support Lu world and your curator, then he and you will receive 10x more of the winning token. There is a buyout offer waiting for him on the stock exchange. All you need to do is reblog Daily Report 161 with your winnings.
Buy Lu on the Hive-Engine exchange | World of Lu created by szejq
STOPor to resume write a wordSTART