It seems they have stopped growing... I dunno if it got too hot for them (something I read can happen), or if I over did the wood ash. I dumped two five gallon buckets of ashes on two beds (each bed is 25' x 4'). I dumped one five gallon bucket on the beds, then about a month later I dumped another one. Top dress only. I know the soil was acidic to start (lots of pines around), but never had it tested. Yes, I know.... then I am really just guessing.

According to an article I read.... that is enough ash to do 2000 square feet. My entire garden is 1250 square feet. Do you think I ruined my legumes? Is there something I can do to mitigate all the wood ash, or should I just leave it alone and see what happens? I have access to chicken manure and lots of urine (mother earth news has me saving it for a fertilizer tea I have yet to mix up).

The woes of a gardener.... did I ruin it, did I ruin it?

I really need to do a soil test to see what I am working with. A little late this year! ha!

My gut feeling is to leave it alone and see what happens, but wanted to see if anyone had any advice on ways to amend the soil after dumping so much ash on a bed.

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/homegrnd/htms/woodshes.htm

After the long winter many New Hampshire residents are faced with a different type of problem. What does one do with the wood ashes left from their wood burning stove or fireplace? An average cord of wood, depending on the efficiency of combustion and wood type, will yield approximately twenty pounds of ashes or the equivalent of one five-gallon pail. Over the winter, this can add up to quite an accumulation of wood ashes.
Wood ash acts on the soil much like limestone in that it raises the pH or alkalinity of the soil. Consequently, many wood stove burners dump the ashes on their garden site with the thought that they are improving the soil condition of their garden. Yet unlike limestone, which can take six months or more to take effect, wood ash has high water solubility and quickly changes the soil pH. This can cause a problem with raising the soil pH over the optimum level of 6.5 to 7.0 if we spread too many ashes in the same area. A soil pH over the optimum level can affect plants as adversely as a pH that is too low. High pH will limit the uptake of important soil nutrients needed by the plant such as phosphorous, iron, and magnesium.
A safe rate of wood ash application for a garden or lawn area would be twenty pounds per thousand square feet or a five-gallon pail full of wood ash. Twenty pounds of wood ash is equivalent to six pounds of ground limestone per thousand square feet. If the soil is in the proper pH range, this rate of application is considered appropriate for yearly treatments. After wood ash application, we should need no additional lime, with nitrogen and possibly phosphorous being the other plant nutrient requirements. The wood application will also supply potassium. We should mix the application of wood ash to the garden soil well.
The UNH soil-testing laboratory, in Durham, has recorded very high pH values from soil samples that we have treated with wood ash. Having a soil test taken once every two years from your garden and lawn is wise. The recommendations for soil treatment, including any adjustment of soil pH, will give one a more accurate means to care for their garden and lawn.
We should make careful consideration when applying wood ash to lawn and garden sites. A measured application can be beneficial to increase soil pH. Over applications of wood ash will increase the likelihood of soil related problems.
George W. Hamilton, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension-- Hillsborough County

I'd suspect the heat - it certainly is true for peas, that's what stops their growth here. Likely be the case for some varieties of beans.

"...My gut feeling is to leave it alone and see what happens..."

I'd heed that advice.

tj

Someone told me to rip them all out and start again.... not sure what that would accomplish, but I'd rather not be so drastic.

Thanks for calming by fears of a ruined legume crop. Still much to learn in the gardening realm. Just need to remember plants want to grow and mother nature will take care of them.

Yes, a soil test is a good idea. Will do at the end of the season so I know what I am working with for next year.

Oh, and they also dumped their dog's crap on the same pile.

You could try growing mushroom/mycelium there, it is known for chelating toxins, and cleaning up the soil...

Is there anything growing there now? By pile, do you literally mean a woodash pile as in something like a burnt house, or just a campfire?

I don't want to completely undermine the wood fence posts, but will do what I can.

The main part of the garden is much better this year, although I got very little from tomato plants last year, high phosphorus and saline, which I am correcting. This smaller spot I didn't even touch last year, and nothing grew at all, not even weeds. But as far as light, seems good for the strawberries. As soon as I started digging, I found the clumps and flakes of ash.

The rest of the soil sent for testing, showed loamy clay. This separate area I did not send. Seems much the same, but with dumped ashes and some turds. Last year was pretty bad for weather, very hot, a lot of gardens suffered, so I didn't feel TOO bad.

Try and leach it with water
Dig it up and replace soil
Make a raised bed and plant in that, I would think overtime it would be ok

I'm sure there are a lot of ways you could deal with it, start researching...

Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is mycelium... Who know if that would work even...

Joe

This seems to be the answer though, dig it up and get rid of the ashes. I will also plant clover, which will help mulch - as it has done in the front hard clay. And will try the mycelium as well. I asked here because I hit a wall with the research. Which might be because there isn't really a good answer, except, discard it and try again.

Thanks so much.

Good luck,
Joe

The type of fungi that form beneficial relationships with plants and nutrient exchange/sharing are not the same fungi as the ones that like to break down OM.

Given the location and supposed high pH, this is a job for microbes...but more likely than that, this is a job for pH remediation via sulfur (or various acids, depending on how hardcore you want to get with it).

I just watered the heck out of it for a season, then planted grass that fall. That leached out what ever toxins were there, and now, you'd never know that the area was a foot deep in burned crud.

This will moderate the pH, improve texture, organic matter and nutrients all at once.