Kae Verens wrote in message ...
*warning: amateur*

I am beginning to get serious with my gardening, and trying out new
things. I grow using 4x4 raised beds, and was thinking that maybe the
pathways are a useful way of converting weeds and the ash of fireplaces
into a useful soil again?

Here is my opinion: the pH of ash is 10.4. Nothing will grow in it. I
have seen at my own place that the pH of soil is affected by how close
one is to the concrete driveway (concrete is in part lime). One foot
from the driveway the pH is around 6.5-7 and 20 ft from the driveway
it is 5.5. So: nothing will grow in the paths (very good), but that
soil will be unusable for a very long time (until rains leach it
thoroughly), and you may find your beds to be a bit too alkaline as
some of the stuff is absorbed into the beds.

My wood stove produces some 100 lb of wood ash each winter, and I put
no more than a handful per 10 sq ft each year on the beds. The rest
gets spread under my best trees. In particular this year I fertilized
my old pear trees with wood ash, and they responded with a crop at
least five times larger than usual (should have thinned much more, got
millions of small pears and many broken branches). If you put 100 lb
within a small garden, nothing may ultimately grow well.