For many Gardeners, waiting till the 21st of May is a ritual!
Garden centers all across the United States and Canada will be open for
longer periods of time during that First Long Weekend and business will be
brisk I'm sure! Everyone knows that the chances of frost after this
date is rare, so the plants you buy now will prosper without worry about
weather conditions.
Did you know though, that you could be planning many ways in which to help
your seedlings and bedding plants get off to a great start, right now?
How?
Well let me take this opportunity to help you all become better gardeners
and also become more ecofriendly too!
I'm sure that in your household there are many times through the week that
you will be preparing eggs, either for breakfast or lunch or maybe in some
wonderful baking. Well, what do you do with the egg shells that are
left behind from all this acitivty?
Don't throw them away!
Egg shells are great in the garden!
You can keep some of the egg shells as they are and use them for potting up
seeds, The shells will hold soil and you can water them easily, When you
plant them in your garden the whole little shell pot goes into the
soil. I personally don't do this but you can without any
problems!
When the bowl is full or I'm ready to deal with them, I take the shells and
bake them for 30 minutes in an oven set to 350 degrees. I do this to
kill any bacteria (salmonella) that could be present, especially in the raw
egg shells. Once they have been baked, the shells become much easier
to pulverize or to break into smaller bits.
You can use either white eggs or brown it makes no difference in the
garden, just remember to bake them before adding them to your plants.
Now, here's the part that I really like. Egg shells broken up in
small bits like the ones in the picture above can be used around the base of
your plants to keep slugs and snails at bay. They really don't like
the sharp edges of the shells on their tender foot!
Eggs are a great source of calcium and your plants will thrive with that
added natural fertilizer and it doesn't cost you anything more than the time
to save, break, and bake them. (Who knows, you might even use breaking
up the shells as a therapy for anxiety during these
times!)
But that's not the only use that egg shells have. If you love birds
and have bird feeders in your backyards, add some broken shells into the
feeders. The birds will enjoy an extra treat and again you don't have
to spend any money to give them this added bonus. The calcium in the
eggs is great for all outdoor birds.
Is your soil a little too compacted? Adding egg shells will act as a
natural way to add some aeration to your soil mix too! If you are like
me and add worms to your garden beds, egg shells will feed your worms and
the worms will feed your plants. It's a win-win
situation!
Egg shells are totally organic and there is no need to waste them by
throwing them out with the trash. Do yourself a favor and start using
them for the birds and the flowers and veggies that your are growing this
year.
Add a
worm farm
to your garden this year if you really want to up the
WOW in natural fertilizing! I was amazed last year when I added
worms to my balcony containers. My tomatoes and cucumbers just went
wild for the added benefits that the addition of the worms
made.
There are many different styles of worm farms available, or you can make
your own by following the instructions on
YouTube.
If you are looking for a finished worm farm set up, you can get one on
Amazon right here!
This one is inexpensive and will do the trick quite nicely!
Interesting to learn that May 21 is the 'last day of frost' prediction. I lived in the South so many years that now that I have returned to the Midwest, I was expecting early May to already have summer temperatures. So I was quite surprised when I heard the local weatherman talk about chances of frost each night this week. It makes sense, now that you tell me about May 21 being the 'end-of-frost' indicator. So, the plants I was hoping to get for my new porch planter I should wait to plant for two more weeks. Thanks, Olivia.
ReplyDeleteWe have always had beautiful gardens but I hate gardening - glad to have someone do it for me. I had him read your post. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThank y9u for stopping by and leaving your comment. I personally love gardening, my hands are the happiest when they are dirty! I realize that not everyone is like me though! lol The lady who does my nails once in a while cringes when I come in for an appointment. Oh well, that is life!
DeleteWe have been blessed with an abundance of worms in our area, although that may not be true for long. I see robins feasting every morning, but it is the natural circle of life so I don't fret about it. I'll just make a plan to build my own worm farm as you suggested, if and when needed. I use my eggshells on my indoor plants. Maybe they should learn to share :)
ReplyDeleteOh Miss Mouse, I don't think you will run out of worms anytime soon. For everyone a Robin gets, I'm sure there are a hundred more under the ground. If you do make your own worm farm, do NOT use regular earth worms. You want to get some red wigglers! They are much more efficient at breaking down the compost eating 4 to 5 times their body weight. Earthworms are much more lazy in the department.
DeleteI was aware that eggshells were useful for gardening, but I never knew how they could be used for this purpose (or that the shells should be baked) until I read this post. Thanks so much for sharing your extensive gardening knowledge, Olivia!
ReplyDeletePleasure is mine Margaret. Baking the shells helps get rid of the salmonella and it makes the shells easier to break as they are drier after being baked. You can also put them in a food processor and grind them down to a fine powder to add to your soil as well.
DeleteGreat ideas here thank you! I have used eggshells as you suggested before and growing of seeds in the half shells is an interesting idea I will try. I just tentatively unwrapped many of my fleeced plants today, but left it on the most tender ones for another week or two. Late frosts can really catch us out. I always wait to plant out bedding plants until late May. Lovely to read your article Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments Jasmine. From one gardener to another we will all learn something we didn't know before. Keep those plants safe until the end of the month and then go to town playing in the garden.
ReplyDeleteWow! I never knew how to use the eggshells in gardening. Thanks for the lesson Olivia.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic tip on Egg Shell use - I had no idea whatsoever - I'll absolutely give this a try - thanks for sharing that - slugs can be a problem here.
ReplyDeleteWe have been saving the shells from our daily boiled eggs and any others we use. I never realized I needed to bake them, though. I'll have to start doing that. I've mostly used the broken shells to throw on the surface of the garden to discourage the snails. We keep a container of shells and garlic peels in my husband's kitchen work area. He peels one egg a day and often a bulb (not clove) of garlic. Those peels add up fast. Never thought of using them for potting. Thanks for the hints.
ReplyDelete