Eggshells for the Garden

As I was browsing through some blogs the other day I came across a question about eggshells on Ask Jackie. Her response reminded me of how we used to bury our eggshells in our small composting area many, many years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can just set them out in an old carton until they are nice and dry then crush them and put them in a bucket until you can sprinkle them on your garden or dig them into your compost pile. Crushed egg shells add calcium to the soil and help prevent such problems as blossom end rot in tomatoes and squash. Good for you for thinking of it! Waste not; want not is our motto. — Jackie”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We haven’t been saving eggshells here because I didn’t want to put them out in the garden and attract varmints. But the idea of letting them dry, and crushing them before adding them to the garden seemed like a great idea. And I really like the comment that said putting crushed eggshells around the base of the plants deterred snails. The snails have eaten my winter broccoli from the inside out leaving a slimy hollow stalk.

So, now I have another bucket for eggshells sitting next to a small cookie sheet covered in empty eggshells drying on a shelf. We use at least 9 or 10 eggs a day for animals and humans, so that will be a fair amount of calcium added to the garden soil. I will especially add them to the squash and tomato plants and see what a difference it makes.

Many people dry their eggshells and feed them back to their chickens. This may be an accepted practice, but it’s not one we choose to do. We avoid any practice that could encourage them to eat their own eggs. Our chickens don’t get anything that comes from chickens – egg scraps, eggshells, broth, or meat. We don’t consider it to be a healthy practice to consume your own species. You know, cannibalism. This is just our practice.

One more way to extend the usefulness of an otherwise discarded item. Isn’t life grand? It’s always giving us something to learn and something to put to good use.

Until next time – Fern
  Visit Thoughts From Frank and Fern at http://thoughtsfromfrankandfern.blogspot.com/