Tips for Using Eggshells

[Munir]

Copied from a newsletter of "About Organic Gardening". Hope it is not objectionable? Farhan or anyone.
......................................................................................................................................................................................... A normal person looks at an egg and thinks "omelet" or "frittata." A gardener (especially one who tends to be on the obsessive end of the spectrum) looks at an egg and thinks "yes! Eggshells!"

Five Ways to Use Eggshells in Your Garden

1. Add crushed eggshells to the bottom of planting holes, especially for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These crops are susceptible to blossom end rot, which is caused by calcium deficiency. While this deficiency is most often caused by improper watering, there's no harm in making sure your plants have a steady source of calcium. As the eggshells break down, they'll nourish the soil, and your plants.

2. Use eggshells as pots for starting plants from seed. Then plant the seedling, "pot" and all, into the garden.

3. Use crushed eggshells to deter slugs, snails, and cutworms. These garden pests are a real pain in the gardener's neck, and cutworms are the worst, killing seedlings by severing the stems at soil level. All three of these pests have soft undersides, and dislike slithering across anything sharp. Crushed eggshells, applied to the soil's surface, may help deter these pests.

4. Add them to the compost pile. If you aren't planting tomatoes or trying to deter slugs, add the eggshells to your compost pile, where they'll add calcium to your finished compost.

5. If you are feeding birds in your yard, crush up the eggshells and add them to a dish near the feeder. Female birds, particularly those who are getting ready to lay eggs or recently finished laying, require extra calcium and will definitely appreciate it!

6. If you keep chickens, use the shells to give your hens a calcium boost. Eggshells contain 95% calcium, and hens need calcium to lay eggs that have strong shells. There is nothing unhealthy about feeding your hens eggshells, though you'll want to make sure you crush them finely, so they no longer resemble egg shells; they may start eating their own eggs if they get used to eating egg shells -- we want their eggs for ourselves!

There are a few things you can do to prep your eggshells to get them ready to use in your garden.

For most uses, it's best to make sure they are clean and free from bacteria. If you don’t wash the egg shells before using, you can bake them in a low (150 to 170 degree oven)on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.

You can grind your eggshells wet or dry.

To grind eggshells wet, take all of your eggshells, place them in a blender and fill the blender with water to about 1/2 way up the eggshells. Then turn the blender on, grind them up, and drain them through a fine mesh strainer.

To grind eggshells dry, you can either let them sit in a bowl until they are thoroughly dry or you can bake them.

Whether you use them to feed your garden or your chickens, making use of your eggshells is a great way to reduce the amount of waste your family produces. If you don't want to bother with any of the above tips, you can also simply add rinsed eggshells to your compost bin or vermicompost bin. Likewise, you can also just crush them and sprinkle them around your plants. Over time, they'll break down and feed the soil.

There are also other oddball uses for eggshells. Some claim that adding a clean dry shell to your coffee filter, then brewing your coffee, will result in less-bitter coffee. I haven't tried this, but it may be worth a try! Just one more example of how creative people can be when trying to get the most use out of something.

[ka_khan]

Informative share Munir Sb.
I have been using egg shells for my Birds and Money Plant pots.Besides egg shells,i am also giving them used Tea leaves.

[Farhan Ahmed]

No issues Sir. Nice share