Thanks for thoughtful replies; especially the article that gave so much detail. Seems like what I'm hearing is - use in moderation. I'm very fussy about what I burn; mostly oak & hickory and no lumber, paint, cardboard etc. etc. so it's pretty clean stuff, burned completely and very fine.
I do understand about the trace minerals, but have been reading that the big
reason why much store fruit & vegetables taste so bland (apples; tomatoes etc.)
is that the trace minerals that provide the subtle flavors to food have been
taken up by crops long ago, and the practice of adding commercial fertilizer's
"big 3" (N,P,K) can produce a crop but do nothing about loss of flavor.
In the summer we set out vegetables for the neighbors on a card table and are
use to hearing about the great flavor of the produce. I think part of that comes
from farm manure, organic compost, and wood ashes.
One experienced member told me to add lime to the fig, and I'm certainly going
to do that. But I'm glad to know that the fig roots that are always sneaking over into the vegetable garden won't mind the wood ashes if I use with caution.
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