Depends on your present soil ph. Scab becomes a big problem as you get higher than 5.5. It can be difficult to get high fertility without raising the ph. Leaf-compost is good for that purpose, I had a bumper crop using that last year.

All plant material and manures will modestly raise your PH and improve structure. It is a far safer and totally beneficial way to improve your soil. Be extremely careful with wood ashes and fowl manure.

Wood ashes helps make grandma's lye soap and grits for fighting snow in your driveway.

Wood ash has been used for generations as a dip on the cut end of potatoes to prevent rot. As for yield, the link below suggests not. It does say it would be an adaquate replacement for lime should liming be needed and it will provide some nutrients. But, again, you need an acid soil to begin with (the article is from Maine).

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Search on wood ash

If you have reason to believe the soil is quite acid, then wood-ash is an option. I broke open some virgin humussy soil a few days ago, and i am adding a bit of ash even to the potatoes. If it brings above 5.5 it's not a disaster. In this part of the continent the chances of getting the soil near 6 with one application is about zero. Scab gets bad around 6 and above.

Scab on the tubers is one of the ways I monitor ph.

Many thanks to everyone. I dont know what the ph is, I have never grown potatoes in that soil, (only squash) and so I should probably find out.
I think I will just use some of Gardens Alive balanced root formula and hope for the best.

Yes Dad would put wood ashes in our garden because it would be an excellent source of lime and potassium for your garden. Not only that, using ashes in the garden also provides many of the trace elements that plants need to thrive. wood ash fertilizer is best used either lightly scattered or by first being composted along with the rest of your compost.

So the wood ashes would come from our wood stove and our fireplace. When I was living in nobleford my neighbour had some tomato plants and I told him to put wood ashes in his garden and do a test the following year I said put half the garden where you're going to put your tomatoes West Wood ashes and the other half of the Tomato area leave it alone and but following year he calls me over to his place and he says look at these Tomatoes they are 1 foot higher than the side that doesn't have the wood ashes

And when you think about it the trunk of the tree builds up and Carries all the nutrients from the ground and leave cut the tree down and throw it into a fire all those nutrients are in the ashes. In 1980 when they had Mount Saint Helens erupt my friends that lived in British Columbia told me that where are the ashes from the volcano landed ruined the agricultu for some time. But later it was better than before

not. I tried, it ruined my crop and the soil. Scab!

LOL!! Volcanic ash is NOT the same as wood ash!! Agricultural production in western Washington in 1980 - where most of the ash fell - was only 7% below normal. Volcanic ash actually contributes to very fertile soils