Woodash is so high in CaCO3 that even a small amount can cause a TEMPORARY spike in pH. If you have plants in the ground at the time, this can cause bad things to happen if they're sensitive or you already have high pH...mostly caused by pH influence changes in nutrient availability. Wood ash is highly water soluble, which makes this pH change happen quickly. If you want to use wood ash to actually raise pH PERMANENTLY you have to use a rather large amount...almost twice as much as a limestone application, for reference, in most soils. You shouldn't even do this unless you really need to raise your pH. If your soil is already high in boron (B) you should avoid it. There's a fine line between good boron content and bad boron content...there's a very thin line from healthy to toxic. It's also worth mentioning that wood ash (even clean/natural hardwood wood ash) contains a lot of metals. Without getting into the issues of traces of mercury and high-ish chromium (which is barely worth worrying about from a plant point of view)...there tends to be a lot of copper and zinc, both of which can inhibit microbial activity at high levels. If you already have a lot of either in the soil already, putting more in could do more soil health harm than soil health good without making up for via additional microbial health inputs. A lot depends on when you apply it (fall is better for perm raising pH amounts), how much you apply, and what's in the ground when you're applying it. This post was edited by nc-crn on Tue, Apr 2, 13 at 3:36

Old thread, but common problem it sounds like. I agree w/Shazaam that the small amount of cross contamination you've created wouldn't cause significant precip. I realize that this thread started a while ago and that the original poster may no longer be following but I figured I'd give a little insight from a chemistry perspective. Long term storage and temperature fluctuations will cause different components to solidify by a variety of reactions. Diluting the stock or re-dissolving the precipitates after decanting can deal with some of this. I would warn against heating the entire stock as this can cause problems. If the FP has formed solids after experiencing a period of low temp, that is likely just salts that have formed due to their lower solubility at lower temps. For the precipitates that form, I'd guess they are either Calcium Phosphate or Calcium Sulfate. As redshirtcat mentioned, there doesn't seem to be much sulfate in FP so I'd guess phosphate is the culprit. In either case, both calcium sulfate and calcium phosphate precipitate at HIGHER temperatures (unlike most other things) so trying to heat the solution will not fix the problem. Dropping the pH is the best way to go. Either vinegar or citric acid should do the trick. Sulfuric or phosphoric acid will cause additional precipitate to form. An easy way to test this is take some of the precipitate and strain it out using a coffee filter. Scrape it into a glass and add a little vinegar. If it re-dissolves you can scale up and use the vinegar/filtrate solution as a supplement.

Regarding the recycling of waste paper/newspapers/junk mail in compost, there was a very interesting and informative discussion on this on the Vermicomposting forum several years ago. Recycling of waste paper is considered a major component of worm bedding in vermiculture. Quite a lot of data is presented on what types of papers and inks can be used without concern as well as the results of testing of some worm composts to determine levels of any heavy metals. I would think much of this data is transferable to a traditional composting process as compost microbes are equally efficient in consuming, digesting and breaking down waste paper as are worms. FWIW, the National Association of Newspapers reports that 95% of US dailies that have runs in excess of 15,000 copies use only soy-based inks. One would have to wonder why a newspaper with as large a circulation as the Seattle Times is as far out of whack with the industry as being part of the lonely remaining 5% that uses a petroleum base for black ink. And btw, cadmium is no longer commonly used to create pigments for colored printing but in those applications where it is, it tests out below detectable measureable levels at 4ppm. Your basic garden soil generally tests higher than that for cadmium. We can all make our own choices based on our beliefs but it makes sense to pick our battles and the recycling of waste paper into compost doesn't seem to me to be a very significant one. Here is a link that might be useful: waste papers and worm composting

1) Will pickle crisp affect flavor? Yes, it might. Calcium chloride is a salt, so it can taste "salty" depending on your taste buds. Regular salt is sodium chloride, which we all know under the common name of "salt". Some people can detect a chalky taste from Pickle Crisp which would be the calcium in it (ever eat Tums? - those are calcium carbonate and taste, to me, like blackboard chalk). Again, depends on the sensitivity of taste buds. As an example, if I order a margarita, I cannot tolerate the lime (fruit) and salt on the rim. But run an orange or a lemon over it instead and dip it in the salt, I love it. I also do not like salt on sliced tomatoes. I think it's hideous. DH salts his liberally. It may be your taste buds reacting to the type and flavor of the acid/type of salt combo. Note: I tend to cut the sodium type salt in recipes where I'm using Pickle Crisp where it is safe to do so. 2) How long does it take pickle crisp to work? I honestly can't answer that one, because I've never opened a jar of anything where I've used Pickle Crisp (tomatoes, pickled peppers, etc.) before it has been on the shelf for a least a month or 6 weeks. And (so far, knock on wood), I don't detect any chemical flavor or lack of crispness. Pickling lime is calcium hydroxide, so it reacts differently (and likely faster) than calcium chloride. 3) Does the thickness of the syrup in this recipe interfere with how pickle crisp works? Long term, it shouldn't. My guess is the Pickle Crisp didn't completely have time to do its chemical reaction stuff before you popped the lid and tasted. Probably more than you wanted to know...