Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Ash on my apples - harvesting food after a wildfire

Light ash fall - just the beginning!
With all the fires in Western Washington (and in other parts of the country where it's far worse), we are getting some ash fall in Seattle. Nothing like ye olde Mt. St. Helens eruption days, but still. Enough ash to make it look like a light snowfall.

It didn't exactly dawn on me initially, but now I'm wondering what's the best way to rinse the ash off my backyard fruits and vegetables? Some things will be easier to rinse off, like zucchini and tomatoes, but sticky fruits like blackberries and herbs like Italian flat leaf parsley might be more of a challenge.

I can wait for some rain before worrying about harvesting the apples. I guess when it comes down to it, it's not exactly any more harmful than grilling vegetables over a wood fire, but it will add an unwanted grittiness to foods harvested in areas in wildfire country.

For those of you in harder hit areas of the country with lots of ash fall from wildfires - what are you going to do to get the ash off your harvested fruits and vegetables?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the ash could actually be good for the produce, from a mineral/nutrition perspective.

Drew said...

From a more positive perspective, the organic matter in the ash should help to provide nutrients for your plants for years to come!