John wrote in
:

On Thursday, November 12, 2009 3:03:13 PM UTC, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Colin Jackson" wrote ...
After the sweep has been round he left a bag of soot.
Apparently it is regarded as having some degree of hazard!

?? Is it of any use in the garden?

Yes but you have to let it weather for some time before you put it
around your plants to stop slugs etc.
So long ago I can't remember how long you have to leave it.

(BTW it's usual to post in plain text, some servers don't like it
otherwise.)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

I have resurrected this thread from 3 years ago because I have just
swept my chimney and have gained a bucket full of soot.

Does anyone know how this "weathering" is performed? Do I simply leave
the bucket and its contents uncovered somewhere in the garden?

I would have thought that the bucket would just fill with water and
result in a black sludge.

I had thought about tipping it on the compost heap, but I remember
being told by my grandfather why he did not do that, but cannot
remember the details of what he said - (I was only about 8 years old
at the time).

He used to have a separate heap for soot, but I do not have the space
for that.


I don't know if this is useful to you, but my dad used to sprinkle a couple
of handfuls of soot between layers of grass mowings in one of his compost
heaps. He had 2 heaps but only one with soot added. He used to throw the
rest of the soot into the dustbin. He must have had his reasons I think.

Baz