How to Use Eggshells in Your Garden

Eggs and their cartons are both useful in the garden.

Egg are a delicious, versatile food in the kitchen. Their shells can be just as versatile -- and useful -- in the garden. Use them before you plant as well as at planting time. The egg carton can be a useful garden tool as well.

Things You'll Need

• Eggshells
• Egg cartons
• Lidded container
• Planters
• Soil
• Small nail or
• Newspaper
• Spoon
• Scissors
• Assorted seeds

Instructions

1. Collect egg shells for several weeks, less if your family goes through eggs quickly. When you use the eggs, try to break the shells at the top so you leave at least half an eggshell whole. Rinse the shell to avoid any smells in storage. Keep the shells in a sealed plastic tub until you have enough.

2. Spread newspaper over your work surface. Poke one large or several small drainage holes in the bottom of the eggshell with a pin or nail.

3. Cut small crisscross holes in the bottom of each cup on the egg carton. Cut the lid off the carton and place it underneath the section with the cups to act as a drainage tray. Set the pierced eggshells back in their cups.

4. Fill each of your egg shell cups with soil, using a spoon. Place a seed or two into each eggshell. Use the end of the spoon to tap the seed below the soil. Water and allow the seedlings to grow until weather is warm enough to allow them to be planted outside. Gently crush the bottoms of each eggshell before you transplant seedlings.

5. Continue to save eggshells throughout the growing season. When you have a dozen or so saved, put them in a zipper-top plastic bag. Crush the egg shells with a can or the bottom of a frying pan. Crush them until they are a fine powder. Spread the crushed eggshells around your plants in the garden as a source of calcium for your plants. According to the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, coarsely ground shells are ineffective as a source of calcium, though they may deter slugs.

6. Cut pressed-paper egg cartons up into tiny pieces with scissors. Mix them with potting soil to serve as moisture-retaining pellets. Put down a layer of the soil-and-egg-carton mixture. Add a layer of eggshells for their nutrients and top with a final layer of the soil-egg-carton mixture. Add seeds, water, and wait about two weeks for your plants to sprout up.

Tips & Warnings

• Eggshell can also be added to compost.

• Rinse your egg shells out and let them dry before putting them into a plastic container. This will make sure you don't have any funky odors in your kitchen.

• Don't use the paper egg cartons to hold your egg shell greenhouses. They get soaked and do not hold together.

References

• University of New Hampshire Extension: Houseplants from the Kitchen
• Alabama Cooperative Extension Service: Crushed Eggshells in the Soil