Grow The Best, Juiciest Tomatoes With This Natural Fertilizer

Spring is in full swing, and, depending on where you live, gardeners are prepping their soil to plant their fruits, vegetables, and herbs. If you're planning to grow tomatoes this year, and you have a fire pit or heat your house with a wood-burning stove, you may already have a source of natural fertilizer. Wood ash contains potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium, nutrients your plant uses to make flavorful, well-developed tomatoes.

Toss the ashes in with the soil or compost, or spread them atop your dirt in the winter before you plant your tomatoes. Since wood ash is alkaline, you will want to test the pH of your soil to make sure it won't make it too basic. Tomatoes thrive in slightly acidic soil with a pH level between 6.2 and 6.8, so you will want to make sure your soil can handle the alkalinity of the ashes. The addition of ash can help prevent blossom-end rot, where the tomato doesn't absorb calcium and starts to rot on the end. This happens when the soil is too acidic. If you don't have access to wood ash, don't worry. Plenty of kitchen scraps can do similar work to help your tomatoes flourish!

Using wood ash as a fertilizer requires some precautions. First, make sure it's pure wood. If the fire had any treated wood used in it, or waste oil and garbage were tossed in, the tainted ash will carry the harmful chemicals into your tomatoes. You also want to ensure the wood comes from areas away from heavy metals. Metals like lead can make their way into wood grown near heavy industry sites and remain in the ash, making their way into your tomatoes. Dark chocolate like Hershey's isn't the only food at risk of lead contamination, as the toxic metal can find its way into anything grown in tainted soil. Only use ash if you know where it came from.

Since ash is fine and light, making it easy to inhale, you will want to wear a mask and goggles, along with long-sleeved shirts and long pants. The ash can easily blow in the wind and irritate your eyes, lungs, and skin. Used safely, however, wood ash will help you grow tomatoes perfect for any delicious recipe you plan to cook!