Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | Eggshells

RRR | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is my weekly post geared toward gardening on a budget by reusing & recycling items you already have on-hand.

This week's topic: Eggshells

 Eggshells can be quite useful in your garden.  Because they contain calcium, adding them to your compost pile will result in a calcium boost to your plants in the future as your compost pile matures.

But eggshells take a loooong time to break down.  You can grind them in a blender, mill, or cusinart until they are a fine powder to accelerate the process.  Some gardeners simply crush the shells and add them around the base of their plants that require higher amounts of calcium to thrive (think roses and tomatoes).  

For an interesting discussion of eggshells and composting, read the comments at this forum; there's lots of useful (and funny) information about how to best compost eggshells.

You can also use nicely halved and cleaned eggshells as seed starter containers.  This is a great project to do with your kids as you wait for spring to come and the return of sunny days.  For instructions on how to make cute eggshell pots with (or without) your kids, click here.

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