I need to get a pH test kit too. Guessing is hard! and you never really know for sure. My impression is that ashes do raise the pH dramatically but it also falls more rapidly than when you apply lime. We are very short of calcium in the soil here, so perhaps it is just that for our soil, it is more critical to apply calcium. Or perhaps there is something in our soil that binds to the potassium after it rains, and takes away the pH effect.
