Sure, I would say go for it. I don't till though. Would just spread around the ash a bit and then cover with plenty of organic material.

For the blueberries though, you might want to avoid the ashy areas with them since they like acidic soils usually. They also like lots of organic matter too.

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

Because of the normal amount of rain you get your soils tend to be acidic. However, the only way to know whether the ash from burning (not a terribly environmentally sound thing to do) us to have a good, reliable soil test done.

I've only had one experience planting in a burn circle and it was dismal.

The use of charcoal/ash aids in the process of nitrogen fixation i.e. the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into plant usable nitrogen compounds such as ammonia.
Everything in moderation. I've been adding small amounts of charcoal to my garden for years. I live in a high elevation area of Colorado and with my poor soil and short growing season I've had very good results.

Ash from a burn pile is far different than charcoal.

I burn wood for heat and add my ashes lightly to my gardens each year. Each fruit tree also gets a few pan-fulls each winter. I have found it most benificial.

Also, I have an area that was covered with god-forsaken-sumak. Burned it out. No garden there, but the grass is lush, full and weed-free.

BTW, burning out the blackberries was likely more environmentally sound than any of your other options for permenent removal and disposal. Can you imagine how much fuel is consumed and spewed out in the form of co2 just to use a chipper? Or to haul it away? or use a brush hog?
Kay.

Kay,
What type of wood do you burn? Most of the ash/charcoal mix (thank you jean) I use comes from cedar and lodgepole. It's what I have on my property.

Wood ashes, if they are the desirable kinds of wood, is rather good for a lawn. It brings down...actually up isn't it..the effects of the acidness brought about by nitrogen being pumped into the ground every year.
That said though, if you were planning to add ashes, it is recommended not to exceed 20 lb per 1000 square feet.

In any case, the planning to plant blueberries does suggest you remove the ashes to avoid any chance the alkalinity of such ashes will affect the acidness needed for the fruit.
Gather them up and deposit them in an area of the lawn not so close to where you wish to maintain the acidness.

Boxer8, we burn mostly oak, but also maple, ash and birch. We will havest anything that falls on the property, but save the pine for back yard camp fires becuase it has too much sap. It gums up the chimney and burns too fast to heat the house.

Nothing better than that intense, dry heat to get the cold out of your bones on those sub-zero days.

I am not familiar with lodgepole, but around here, where we have plenty of cedar, it is still just too valuable to burn. Even crooked, too-tapered poles will net you a could of bucks each, which will buy more burning wood than you can get out of the cedar.
Kay.

Hey kimmsr you realize composting releases carbon dioxide right? All decomposition does. It also releases heat. Composting is a lot like burning really slowly.

Burning blackberry bushes might not kill 'em, in fact they may come back stronger. But if you're persistant in cutting them they shouldn't be a problem.

What you are describing is the essence of slash and burn agriculture; burn plants and release the accumulated mineral nutrients. ItÂs a win win situation because, as you said, not only are you adding nutrients you have cleared the ground and are now ready to plant. Up until a couple hundred years ago, this was standard operating procedure virtually the world over. Carry on in pioneer style!

When you burn something you release into the atmosphere a large number of the nutrients that material had, as pollutants, in addition to large volumes of carbon (the carbon is what colors the smoke from inadequate combustion. The darker the smoke the more carbon there is which is why petroleum fires have black smoke). The only thing left behind in the ash is the mineral part of what was burned.
Composting is not like burning anymore than the digestion of material on the forest floor is like burning. This much slower process does not release nearly the amount of pollutants that burning a similar amount of material would even over a long period of time. It is the volume of garbage burning puts into the atmosphere that is the problem, the stuff that interferes with some peoples ability to breath fairly well.