wood pellet ash

[joed2323]

I'm new to composting and making my own.

We have a wood pellet stove at work and it just dawned on me that I should be taking the wood pellet ash home with me..

Is this any good for my composting Pyle at home?
Also how about saw dust does it have to be burnt up? We get a lot of Small peices of sawdust/tiny wood pieces that doesn't make it into the stove, can I use this also?

I've been saving all my egg shells at home for awhile now also, I probably have a 5 gallon bucket full, I heard egg shells are good for the compost pyle too..

Thanks in advance, sorry if this has been covered before

[rainbowgardener]

A small amount of wood ash is fine in your compost pile. Wood ash is quite alkaline, so you don't want to over do it.

Raw sawdust is fine in your compost pile as a "brown" ingredient. The sawdust will soak up quite a bit of moisture, so you may want to water your pile more than usual. It is a pretty intense brown, so you need to be sure you are mixing it with plenty of greens, probably some where between 2:1 and 3:1 sawdust: greens by volume.

In general we say a compost pile should be no more than 10% any one ingredient. You want a good diversity of ingredients, to be sure your compost is balanced and contains everything your plants need.

Eggshells are also fine. If you are adding a whole bunch like that, I would crunch them up first (maybe pour them into a garbage bag and stomp them well?) and mix them through the pile. Crunched egg shells are also useful as a mulch around plants to help keep slugs and snails a way and they are beneficial in the planting holes for broccoli and tomatoes as a calcium source.

[joed2323]

Thanks a lot. Sounds like I should use the sawdust over the ash. What about burned up leaves, is this basically the same thing as wood ash??

I did not know about no more then 10% of any ingredients, thanks again, I learn so much from this forum...

I can crumble up the egg shells and till into my garden too correct?
I generally get a couple pickup truck loads of compost in the spring for my garden...

I need to have more production out of my own compost pyles.
I need to do the grass clippings , I need to give it 110% this year for my own compost pyle

[toxcrusadr]

I've made quite a bit of compost using mostly grass, leaves and sawdust or shavings as ingredients. Sawdust will work fine although it is a SUPER brown (C:N 400:1 or some such). I guess I violated the 10% rule...it's not a hard and fast rule. Make sure there is no treated wood dust in there.

Ash, you can also add to the compost pile but keep it to maybe 1-2 qts per cubic yard of materials. I've also spread it very thin right on the ground on a large lawn.

[rainbowgardener]

No, burned up leaves are not the same as wood ash, I don't think as alkaline. But why burn them? They are better as mulch and in the compost pile unburned. What you are burning up is some of the good organic stuff that you want.

If you have more leaves than you need, just find a place to pile them until you do need them. By the time you use them, the bottom level will have broken down into leaf mould which is wonderful rich, fine textured stuff.

I go collect other people leaves and I still never have as much as I could use!

[LA47]

I thought I jump in and say that I wouldn't use the unburned pellets. Our county dump separates the wood and it's bought by some company to make pellets with. Unless they sort it, there are old treated post, painted wood, and junk I wouldn't want in my garden.

[toxcrusadr]

Interesting point LA47. Around here (MO) there are forests and sawmills, and landfilling is cheap so there is not as much diversion of things like wood waste. I suspect our local pellets are just sawmill waste. But it would certainly make sense that in some places other stuff might be going in.

They would need to make some effort to minimize that, for several reasons. First, regulatorily speaking, painted wood (probably treated too) shouldn't go into a stove. If the inspectors see too much of that it puts the 'recycling' status in jeopardy and they are in danger of 'improper disposal of solid wastes.' Second, metals (esp. lead from paint) will destroy the catalytic converter in a woodstove, and that's bad for business. Just a few thoughts, not arguing with your basic premise that things will slip by in that kind of an operation.

[joed2323]

Thanks guys... I will not burn the leaves.

I know lots of people that burn there dead grass in early spring I'm not exactly sure how but it helps the grass get growing a lot better, what's the reasoning behind this??

how many of you guys gather your grass clippings and make compost out of them? I need to do this, this year...

[Dillbert]

the only reason I have grass is to collect the clippings to use as mulch in the vegetable garden.

yeah yeah okay, it's a bit of an exaggeration. but I do "lawn care" to get "free mulch" - I've been know to abscond with plastic bags of grass clippings set out for trash collection - but only from where I know they don't do "chemical lawn service" - I'm not all too coy about it - I hook up the tow behind cart to the lawn mower and peruse the neighborhood . . . I make a deal with 'em - put the bags here night before and I'll make 'em disappear.

[rainbowgardener]

Grass clippings are great in the compost pile. However they are also good to leave on your lawn, if mulched fine enough and they are great as mulch in the veggie beds. So not very much grass clippings makes it in to my compost pile, mainly only as Dilbert noted, if I can "steal" some of the neighbors.

Otherwise kitchen scraps and pulled weeds, deadheaded flowers, and other garden trimmings are my greens for the compost pile. Also coffee grounds when I can bring them home from somewhere. Also the watermeal/ duckweed I strain from the pond, which makes an excellent, high Nitrogen addition to the compost pile.

[toxcrusadr]

I usually let my grass clippings lie on the lawn since the soil needs a lot of help. In the spring when it's growing fast (esp. in the occasional years when I fertilize), I'll bag it a couple of times to get some greens to mix with last fall's leaves that are still piled around. The worst thing in the world is putting grass clippings at the curb.

Re: pellet ingredients, after talking with a state solid waste regulator I know, regulations on wood recycling will vary by state. Some states will have a lot of permitting and inspection, others not so much. One thing's for sure, in a low budget, high volume, low profit margin industrial operation like that, bits of stuff are going to get through. The amount is the key. One way to find out what goes in is to ask the manufacturer. If using recycled wood and not virgin sawmill waste, they may gloss over the painted wood aspect, but at least you'll know whether they use recycled or virgin.

[ElizabethB]

My 2 cents. I have a large live oak. In the spring it drops more leaves than I can possibly use so G makes a couple of rounds with his riding mower bag attatchment. The equivalent of 3 kitchen garbage bins each round. I had him dump the mulched leaves in one of my 2 4'x4'x4' bins until it was full. When I finished using last year's mulch from the other bin I tossed in a layer of mulched leaves about 18" deep. G mowed Friday and I had him collect enough grass clippings to add an 18" layer on top of my leaves. Tossed in another 18" layer of mulched leaves. I am adding kitchen scraps and will have G dump another load of grass clippings. Then another layer of leaf mulch. Next is to visit my sister's horse farm and get a load of cured, composted horse manure to add. Since it is fully composted that will be a layer of brown instead of the leaves. I also want a little bit of green manure for the heat. I don't have enough room for a trailer load of manure but I will share with my neighbor. Since my compost bins are starting over I talked to the manager at a local vegetable market. He is more than willing to provide me with vegetable trimmings for FREE. I also get rabbit manure free from local breeders. LOVE rabbit manure - it is a cool manure and can be used fresh. I am still working on the "perfect" mix for my compost.

My focus this year is to layer brown and green. Once that bin is full I will start tossing into the adjacent bin. The bins are made from scrap lumber and chicken wire so air circulation is there. I do need to toss and when there are dry spells I will need to water.

I love gardening and composting. I learn something new every day. Yesterday I attended a talk given by my county horticulturist. The topic was composting. He brought up some points that I had never considered. Grass clippings - if the lawn was treated with a weed and feed the weed chemicals may still be present.
Horse manure - we have a local race track that gives away horse manure. The question was asked what about hormones or steroids - are those still present in the manure? No research available - just something to keep in mind. I asked Sis and the only horses on their farm are recipient brood mares and foals under 1 year old. The breeding mares and race horses are housed at breeding farms or with trainers. So her manure is pure s***.

I wanted to get in the garden this am but it stormed last night and most of this am. Ow well.

Gardening and composting is an on going educational experience. Love hearing all of your input.

[ElizabethB]

The CA did address wood ash. Used in extreme moderation it is fine in a compost bin. Over doing the wood ash will increase the alkalinity of your soil. So go easy on the wood ash.

[Dillbert]

>>Grass clippings - if the lawn was treated with a weed and feed the weed chemicals may still be present.

clippings may have both insecticides and herbicides - either as superficial residue (depending on how much growth/cutting occurred since application) or absorbed into the plant tissue.

unless one knows for absolute certain what chems were applied and research its dangers and persistence, grass clippings can be harmful to your health, as they say...

>>Horse manure - we have a local race track that gives away horse manure. The question was asked what about hormones or steroids - are those still present in the manure? No research available - just something to keep in mind.

race horses are perhaps better 'regulated' for hormones and steroids / "illegal performance enhancing drugs" that the run-of-the-mill horse.
but - rats! - many horses are routinely treated for worms / infections - I.e. whether the horse has a problem or not - and many many of those medications are not good for people / dogs / earthworms / etc.

the research is "mixed" news - most, but not all, approved wormers/et. al. do break down quickly; long term studies not done; long term effect of such in the soil, absorbed by plants, eaten by people/humans is simply not known.

it's good stuff, but frankly I'm not gonna use in on my veggies unless it has 2-3 composting/aging.

[toxcrusadr]

IMO, if these things are composted, as long as you don't eat the manure, compost or grass clippings, it's not a toxic threat. I could go into my reasoning if anyone wants.

Herbicides on grass clippings, though, can damage your plants, particularly if you use fresh clippings as a garden mulch, OR make compost out of clippings treated with very persistent herbicides like picloram and chlorpyralid.