Eggshells in the garden

[Pullstart 62,905]

I have heard for years that crushed eggshells in the garden can help plants grow strong and uptake more nutrients having extra calcium available.  Since having chickens, this is really easy.  10 parts apple cider vinegar (or any fermented vinegar) and 1 part baked and crushed eggshells (200 degrees for an hour).  Once the eggshells quit moving, it’s ready to be diluted and applied to the garden plants.

 

 

[953 nut 55,298]

I just compost the egg shells along with any kitchen/yard waste and add it to the soil when it has finished. By the way, vinigar is a very efective weed killer so I'm curious about how this brew wouldn't be harmful. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by 953 nut

[Pullstart 62,905]

19 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

I just compost the egg shells along with any kitchen/yard waste and add it to the soil when it has finished. By the way, vinigar is a very efective weed killer so I'm curious about how this brew wouldn't be harmful. 

It is a concentrate, that can be applied at 1000:1.  Basically, a teaspoon per gallon.  That’ll kill the killer in the vinegar   I do not know for sure, but I wonder if the extreme concentrate of eggshells neutralizes the vinegar’ acidity?

[JoeM 7,874]

Not to sure about egg shells but seems like it would help. 

I have dissolved plain calcium vitamins in water and pour that at the base of my tomato plants when planted. Eliminates blossom rot.

[Ed Kennell 38,209]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

I just compost the egg shells along with any kitchen/yard waste and add it to the soil when it has finished. By the way, vinigar is a very efective weed killer so I'm curious about how this brew wouldn't be harmful. 

 

                                                                                            

 

                    Same here Richard.......we called it the slop bucket.   Now it's a nutrient recycling manufacturing center.

 

     BTW,   back then when it was a slop bucket, it also served as a fly trap as it had a screen funnel lid that the flys entered but could not exit.

[clueless 3,002]

From 1920 to 1960 my grandparents owned a small delicatessen/restaurant in downtown. My grandfather had a little over a half acre area he propagated azaleas and camellias on, and my grandmother had a small truck patch. They had a big cypress bin about 12 feet square they would put all the vegetable scraps, egg shells and used coffee grinds in from the restaurant along with dirt and a little chicken manure every now and then and turn it every few days and then move the pile further back in the bin, that was my father job from the time he was 5 till he got married. After they retired and sold the restaurant my grandmother would take the egg shells and coffee grinds from breakfast and dump them in a small spot by her garden till she died.  She told me they were two of the best thing to put in your compost, she learned it from her parents from Greece, and the people in Greece had been doing it for hundreds of years. My wife still uses our coffee grinds in her potting mix..

[Pullstart 62,905]

Yep, I use coffee grounds too Chris   For the large garden, we hit up the various Starbucks joints in town.  They are glad to give away their used grounds for garden use.  
 

@clueless I pressed the submit button, just as I got a phone call asking if I want the coffee grounds from Starbucks!   Can’t make this stuff up! 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Pullstart

[Pullstart 62,905]

It’s a hard pressed day.  Sun’s out, Kohler’s purring, coffee grounds for the garden, kid sleeping and she almost finished her crackers before passing out!

 

Yeah, I’m aware of the flat tire on the trailer.  It still rolls and doesn’t haul much weight 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

8 hours ago, 953 nut said:

I just compost the egg shells along with any kitchen/yard waste and add it to the soil when it has finished. By the way, vinigar is a very efective weed killer so I'm curious about how this brew wouldn't be harmful. 

1 tablespoon to 1 gallon of water I use on the blueberry bushes to increase the acid in the soil

[JoeM 7,874]

One of my WH friends put coffee ground in his garden and his beagle ate them......just about killed the dog. 

The vet told him it can really be hard on dogs and cats.

Just a little FYI

I guess good for the ground bad for the animals. 

[Stormin 9,981]

Broken egg shells scattered around plants etc are a fairly good repellant of slugs. Don't like the sharp edges.

[bds1984 1,435]

Another tip my grandparents shared with me is to water plants with the water used to cook hard boiled eggs and vegetables with.  

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

Don't wanna bust anybody's bubbles... but...  the research that I've read on coffee grounds in the garden made me decide to stop using them.  Don't look at the 'urban legend' sources for research, but rather the established organizations that actually scientifically TEST things.

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,598]

Composting your vegetable / yard / kitchen waste before you apply to garden as humus (finished compost) is the key…