Using Egg Shells In The Garden

Once you learn how you can use egg shells in the garden you won’t just think about eggs solely as food. Their shells are a free way to add to the health of your soil and plants, but they also have quite a few other helpful benefits as well. Here are the best ways to use them for the everyday gardener.

The Need For Calcium

Plants need minerals such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium to thrive. But calcium is also extremely important for their growth, health, and holding together the cell walls of the plant. Without enough calcium plants often end up having deformed blooms.

Luckily egg shells are very high in calcium, and of course, they are readily available every time you make a meal that has eggs as an ingredient. When using egg shells whether for calcium or another purpose crushing them up first will help them to break down faster.

Fertilize For Free

Instead of purchasing fertilizer or lime to get the calcium your plants need, you can add your egg shells to your soil. Shells are not a fast fix for calcium but instead release calcium and other minerals slowly as they decompose. They can be added once or multiple times during the growing season.

Using egg shells in the garden soil will also help minimize its salinity, optimize its chemical balance, and allow for better water absorption. While many people crush their shells and sprinkle them around the base of their plants you can also grind them up into a powder.

Another option is to make a calcium-boosting tea by placing your shells in a container of water and allowing them to steep for a few weeks. Then you’ll want to add one cup of your tea with one gallon of water and use this mixture to water your plants.

Egg Shells In The Compost

To create calcium-rich soil that you can use in the future, you can simply add your egg shells to your compost. However, to help deter backyard pests such as raccoons and skunks from taking an interest in them it would be a good idea to rinse and crush them first.

No More Slimy Slugs And Snails

Forget trying to pour salt on slugs and snails, using eggshells is much easier. By sprinkling your crushed shells around your garden or the base of specific plants that these slimy pests like you can help to get rid of them. Not only do they dislike traveling across crushed shells but as they do the sharp edges of the shells actually can cut into their sensitive skin.

These cuts and abrasions will often end up killing them since it leads to their skin drying out. The albumin in eggs is also known to be off-putting to deer. They don’t like the smell. So if you have problems with deer invading your yard and them eating up your garden be sure to try placing crushed shells around their favorite snacking spots.

For The Birds

You might be surprised to know that you can use crushed eggshells in the garden to feed your backyard bird buddies too. Calcium is very important for them especially for those momma birds both before they lay their eggs and after.

You can help supplement their natural diet by crushing up the shells and mixing them in with your birdseed. If you own chickens you can use your shells to improve their health with the added calcium and in turn the add to the quality of the eggs they lay. It’s a win-win cycle, plus it’s free.

Eliminate Rot

When there’s too little calcium in the soil, plants like tomatoes, eggplants, squash, and peppers can develop what’s known as blossom end rot. This can cause a brown spot to form where the blossom used to be.

To prevent this, all you’ll need to do is add your crushed egg shells on top of the root ball of the plant when you are planting them in the ground. The calcium will allow the plants to regulate their water much more efficiently preventing rot from ever getting started.

As you can see there are many ways to use egg shells in the garden. Whether you choose to use yours for fertilizer, in the compost, to get rid of pests, as bird food, or to prevent rot you’ll be glad you did!

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