Top 6 ways to use eggshells in the garden
If you’ve never used eggshells in the garden, make this year be the start!
Whether you have your own chickens or buy eggs at the store, don’t let the eggshells go to waste. Often discarded as trash, you’ll soon see that they have tremendous benefits as well.
Eggshells are loaded with calcium and protein. In fact, about half of an eggshell may produce enough calcium to meet an adult’s daily requirement!
They are made up of Calcium Carbonate which is the same form of calcium found in many nutritional supplements, on store shelves.
Disclaimer: This post contains Affiliate Links for Lehman’s, Tractor Supply, and Amazon. I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to the buyer.
Side Tid-Bit Of Info
Did you know that you could even make your own eggshell powder calcium supplements!?!?
Super simple! Boil shells for 15 minutes to sterilize, and then dry in the oven at 225 degrees for about 20 minutes until completely dry (or stick them in the oven after you just cooked something as the oven is cooling down, to be more energy efficient! ).
Once dried, allow to sit and cool down to room temp, then grind into powder using a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. The powder could be added to food, smoothies, or even empty capsules.
I LOVE the fact that we could make our own completely natural nutritional supplement, for quite literally no cost. It’s wonderful to have that knowledge and skill, IF truly needed.
Working in the Natural Health Industry for about 15 years, I’d have to say that this form of Calcium isn’t the most ideal for our bodies. Even though it’s sold in stores, Calcium Carbonate is not as well absorbed by our bodies compared to other forms and also may cause constipation. For humans, I personally prefer plant based Calcium for better absorption, however for those who are truly trying to go as self-sufficient as possible, this is great info to have.
ON THE OTHER HAND….
For plants, using eggshells in the garden could be extremely beneficial!
Eggshells add Calcium to the soil which helps
~plants absorb other nutrients.
~build plants’ cell walls.
~plants respond well during periods of stress.
~prevent Blossom End Rot.
~balance acidic soil.
~aid in pest control.
Disclaimer: Now, if you follow my blog you will hear me forewarn you often, that in gardening, you will find a zillion opinions mixed with facts and passed along antidotes. I am a very black and white, rule following, by the book person, which makes finding information either very exciting or very frustrating for me. You will read a bunch of articles saying one thing and a bunch that totally contradict them. Read, educate yourself the best you can with all of the theories, but ultimately TRY. Try different things and see what works best for YOU, YOUR garden, and YOUR life.
PREP- How to use eggshells in the garden
Being that eggshells take several months to breakdown, the finer you crush them, the faster they will become useful.
I don’t drive myself crazy with the size. I feel that no matter the size, they are serving more use the ways listed below than in the landfill, by tossing them in the trash.
- Rinse the empty shells and, if possible, keep the membrane attached which has nutrients as well.
- Lay shells on a baking sheet and throw them in the oven as soon as you take out dinner (as the oven is cooling down). Cooking them a bit will not only dry them out but will prevent Salmonella. Keep an eye on them though! Nothing smells worse than burnt eggshells. TRUST ME!
- Once dry, let the tray sit on the counter and completely cool to room temperature.
- Depending on intended use, crush coarsely with a rolling pin, finer with a food processor, or into a powder using a coffee grinder.
- Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Keep adding to the container every time you make eggs and dry the shells!
Top 6 Ways To Use Eggshells In The Garden
1. Compost
Simple! If I don’t have the time or interest in crushing shells too much, then I just simply throw them into the compost bin after they cool down. This will take longer for them to break down, however it actually provides a bit of aeration benefit as well.
2. Soil Amendment
By eggshells providing Calcium, they also help to balance PH in over acidic soil.
Keep in mind that some crops actually prefer acidic soil so it would be best to check using a soil acidity test first.
When tested in the Spring, you’ll be able to better decide where to plant each type of crop and determine if any other amendments are needed.
When tested in the Fall, you’ll have enough time for amendments to take effect over winter.
In Fall, after pulling up final crops for the season, sprinkle finely crushed shells on soil and mix through.
Soil acidity changes throughout the year by factors such as an abundance of rainwater or snow, which leaches out important nutrients from the soil. Checking at least annually is highly recommended.
3. Spring planting to prevent Blossom End Rot
Blossom End Rot most commonly occurs in tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers. It is NOT a disease, but a sign that the plant is having trouble with a calcium imbalance.
You’ll have a normally developing fruit one day and then notice the blossom end of it (farthest from the stem) starts to rot.
It’s best to try to prevent this from happening all together, and many gardeners (I’m one of them!) swear by adding eggshells to the hole at the time of planting.
I typically sprinkle a layer of finely crushed eggshells into the bottom of the hole, add the plant, sprinkle another layer of more eggshells over top and around edges of plant base, then fill in the hole with remaining soil.
It is also said that vegetables rich in calcium could benefit from eggshells sprinkled in the soil as well.
What Plants Like Eggshells The Most?
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Peppers, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes
If you grow ornamental plants also:
Barberry, Bluebeard, Butterfly Bush, Clematis, Crocus, Forsythia, and Lilacs
4. Eggshell Water/Tea
In the spring/summer, whenever I hard boil eggs, I allow the water to cool and use it to water my calcium loving plants. Some calcium from the shells actually goes into the water when boiling.
I’m constantly making Refrigerator Pickled Eggs, so I have plenty of egg water to use.
Some gardeners take it a step farther even and make a tea out of eggshells for their gardens. Just put crushed, dried eggshells into a cup or glass bowl and pour boiling water over them. Allow to sit and cool on it’s own till room temperature. Either pour onto plant soil directly or strain first to remove the eggshell fragments (by why not use them too?!?!).
This could also be used as a quicker delivery method if you suddenly start seeing signs of Blossom End Rot or if you start having PH Acidity issues during your growing season (which happens, especially after periods of heavy rain).
5. Pest Control
Many gardeners swear by sprinkling coarsely crushed eggshells on top of soil to aid in slug control, especially around lettuce. The idea is that the slugs injure themselves when attempting to get to the lettuce (or other plants).
In all my years of gardening, this has never worked for me personally. I still do it “just in case” but nope never works for me.
Troy and I have found that the beer method is the only way to go when it comes to slugs, and have GREAT success every time! (more to come in another post about that method)
ANYWAY, birds on the other hand love crushed eggshells, and it gives them calcium to help strengthen their own eggshells when they lay. Of course, if you have chickens you could give them crushed eggshells for the same reason!
Having birds in the garden is great pest control, as they help by eating garden harming bugs.
I also find that providing birds with eggshells on the soil, helps to lower chances of them snipping my plants. Maybe it occupies them.?.
6. Aesthetics-Ornamental Mulch (for non-edible plants)
A thick layer of white, brown, blue, and green shells make a beautiful natural mulch in the garden. I say non-edible because while we do want to add calcium to the soil of certain crops, we also don’t want to go overboard and throw the ph far in the opposite direction.
Some people laugh at this because you would need a TON of shells to produce a thick layer of mulch.
However…
1.You don’t really need a crazy amount if you are using it to mulch a potted plant.
2.Those of us with chickens DO tend to have a crazy amount of eggshells available and we are ALWAYS thinking of new ways to use them.
Before you say it…..I purposefully left out planting seeds in eggshell cups because I’m personally not a fan (though I know many who love to do it with their kids). I just feel that they don’t provide enough room for healthy deep roots. Also, being that the shells take so long to breakdown, when you transplant them you’ll need to break up the shell, anyway, to reap the benefits. Just my humble personal opinion, but they DO look adorable in pictures though 🙂 .
About Me
Love this! I have a giant jar on my counter and wasnt sure when to toss them in!
So glad that you enjoyed the post! It’s crazy all of the uses for eggshells that people have been telling me about after I posted this! Have you ever heard of them being used as toothpaste or a facial scrub??? That sounds painfully intriguing! I’m all for trying out new things for the blog, but I may have to draw the line somewhere!
I love this post because I have found many of these things to be true by practice! 🙂 Last year was the first year I used egg shell, and I learned a few things from my mistakes, but this is super helpful! Oh, and thanks for adding the Lehman’s links! I am in love and could completely spend every dime there, lol. I’ll be checking that out again soon!
Thanks Stacey! I absolutely LOVE Lehman’s! They have such unique and incredible items. As for the eggshells..I absolutely have seen the difference in preventing Blossom End Rot and as emergency help using the water. I think it’s so awesome that we don’t need to rely on stores for everything including products to care for our plants!
I heard eggshells was great for roses is this true?
I’m so sorry Judy for the very delayed response!! my account was suddenly inundated with spam msgs that the real legitimate got lost…I have heard mixed things on eggshells and roses. Are they truly beneficial for calcium to the plant? The jury is still out. In general they aren’t a bad thing for roses and could help balance soil ph and aid in pest control. If I had limited shells I would use them with my tomatoes over my roses, however if you have extra (or don’t have tomatoes growing) then I would definitely sprinkle around the roses base.