[tape_measure]

"... potash, an organic compound..." - immediate Gell-Mann amnesia effect. Potash is the soluble, inorganic leftovers of burnt plant matter.

What's interesting is how many different names derive from this production method. - potassium from "potash" (pot ash, collected burnt stuff) - K from "kalium", related to calcine (burn to ashes) - Alkali for basic compounds, which nearly all soluble metal oxides are - Calcium and Ca also derive from this root

(now let me check all of this so I don't Gell-Mann myself)

[thaumasiotes]

Wikipedia suggests that several different minerals have been called "potash", of which one (potassium carbonate) is organic and the rest aren't.

[tape_measure]

Metal carbonates are generally not considered organic.