permaculture

[Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>]

While we're on this topic - Another use for woodash I experimented with this
season was for curing olives.
I've found using salt solutions results in very salty olives and commercial
curing usually involves using caustic soda (don't mind using a caustic soda
lye for soap-making but the ideas of using for something I'm going to eat
just doesn't feel comfortable). I experimented with soaking my olives first
in a mix of wood ash and water, then a saline solution, then a weak vinegar
solution - result was the best home-cured olives yet!
Robyn

On 23/5/06 2:37 AM, "Clint Popetz" <clint@cpopetz.com> wrote:

> On Mon, May 22, 2006 at 12:23:20PM -0400, Jerome Rigot wrote:
>> Indeed, it is very caustic because the main component is potassium
>> hydroxide also called lye. The first soaps were made with wood ash.
> 
> As such, you can also soak the ashes in water (preferrably
> spring/rain/well water) for several hours to get the lye water out.
> Consult any old soapmaking reference on the time/concentration/etc.
> (And then use the lye to make soap or biodiesel!) After that you're
> ashes can be safely added to your garden without raising the pH.  But
> at that point, the potassium hydroxide is gone, so the main mineral
> benefit of the ash for your plants (K) is gone.  But at least you
> don't have bags of ash sitting around :)
> 
> Also, as other people have said, a dusting of wood ash keeps the slugs
> at bay, at least until it rains or you water.
> 
> -Clint
> 
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