permaculture

[Brook Le Van <brook@sustainablesettings.org>]

Scott,


Good to hear from you.  Look forward to hearing about your work their.

I have used wood ash to detour ants from places I didn't want them.  
Apply as you would use diatomaceous earth circling the tree and or 
walkway or across a threshold of a dwelling.

In Ghana and Burkina when I was with the Gurunsi I saw them use wood 
ash in several ritual libations.  One was painted on the walls during 
various phases of construction as a specific icon to ward off "evil 
tree spirits" which to their understanding would come and steal a new 
born's sense of sight or hearing.  This wall application and ritual 
treatment of their dwellings may have a practical reason buried deep in 
their cosmology.

The Gurunsi had difficulty with ants or termites undermining the 
structural integrity of their massive earthen walls that make their 
compounds.  The insects were mining the millet straw deep in the wall 
structure for any edibles in the earthen mixture. This caused deep 
channels and increased the wall's porosity and wall failure far ahead 
of regular structural expectations.

So our Gurunisi hosts combined wood ash into one of their layers of 
plaster, more like a wash before and or between final plaster coats.  
This seemed to help.

While I was there I began to work with them experimenting with the 
plethora of shredded plastic bags that had recently been introduced to 
their markets and had since begun to decorate their landscape as a 
fiber in their wet ball earthen mixture.  I left, of course with some 
wall samples built and do not know if it was successful and or if they 
utilized any of that thinking.

Anyway,  Hope you are well.

Best,

Brook



On Dec 14, 2006, at 2:19 PM, Norris Thomlinson wrote:

> Hi Scott-
>
> > Anyone know of any uses for wood ashes??  Besides lye soap and used to
> > sweeten or alkalinize the soil.
>
> I've come across references to use of wood ash lye in preparing corn, 
> to
> prevent the vitamin deficiencies caused by a diet high in corn.  It's 
> the
> same idea as using lime with the corn--but wood ash (especially or 
> maybe
> only? from hard woods) is another way to process it.  The wood ash lye 
> is
> created by leaching water through the ashes.  I don't know whether or 
> not
> the process is identical to that for preparing lye for soap.
>
> Hope that helps!
>
> Norris Thomlinson
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