They say that to make an omelet in life you have to break a few eggs. They never say what to do with the eggshells though. If you want to get the most out of your eggshells you are in the right place as we five top tips on recycling shells.
To begin with, you need to start collecting eggshells. Simply wash them and leave them in a container. If you have time crush them as you go to leave room for more eggshells. The eggshells have no noticeable smell to humans so they are perfectly fine to collect and leave in an open container (with one exception that I will mention later). Once you have all your eggshells mashed up you can start to put them to work and there are so many ways to use eggshells effectively. Today, I want to focus on the garden.
Eggs as Fertilizer
Eggshells are full of calcium. By spreading some of these over your soil you are adding an important chemical for plants. Calcium is important for plants to build healthy stems and branches and so will ensure your plants live a little longer. If you have spare coffee grounds it is a good idea to mix them in too. This concoction will add some calcium and nitrogen to your plant life, a powerful combination.
Top tip: It takes time for the shells to mix in with the soil so the best time to mix them in is during autumn.
Eggs as seed holders
Eggshells are the perfect size for so many things. If you keep some shells with the bottom half intact you can actually plant seeds in them with some soil. Start by using a screwdriver or nail to make a hole in the bottom of the shell to allow water to drain. The best part is that when the seed is getting too big you can simply move the eggshell to the soil and leave the seed inside it will eventually outgrow the shell and the shell will decompose, leaving its calcium-rich nutrients behind
Top tip: don’t crush all your eggshell straight away as you may use some in their original form
Eggs to keep pests at bay
This is often talked about use case for eggshells but I include it here more as a warning. The only evidence I have found suggests that eggshells are good at keeping deer away but for most people, these are not a problem pest. Other people do suggest they keep slugs away but the evidence suggests otherwise.
Top Tip: The smell of eggshells is attractive to rats. If leaving them out, ensure that rats are not an issue.
Eggs as food for the birds
Did I mention that eggshells are rich in calcium? Well, birds deserve calcium too. For the health of the birds, it would be a good idea to sterilize the shells first. You can do this pretty easily by leaving the shells in your cooling oven for a little while. After that simply mix them with a seed and the birds will eat them up.
Top tip: Crush the eggshells up very fine to ensure you are not giving any sharp issues to the birds.
Eggs as topsoil
Eggs can be used as a very useful mulch. If you have enough you could use them as a topsoil feature of your garden. In addition, they are useful to keep weeds at bay.
Top Tip: To properly deter weeds you will need a thick layer of eggshells, so save up a lot.
There you have it. The top five ways to use eggshells in the garden. If you know any others, please let us know.
