8 Reasons You Should Scatter Eggshells All Over Your Garden

If you eat a lot of eggs, you naturally end up with an abundance of eggshells. Instead of throwing them in the trash or down the disposal, you can make good use of them in your garden.

It’s no secret that eggs, full of protein, vitamins, and minerals (enough to grow a baby chicken from just one cell) are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Worldwide an average person consumes about 170 to 200 eggs annually. That’s over a trillion eggs per year! Now ask yourself this: “What happens to all of those eggshells?”

Eggs will provide you vitamins, minerals, and proteins, and are one of the most nutritious foods in the world. You can pass these nutrients to the plants if you add eggshells to your garden. The benefits of the eggs are endless if you just use eggshells in your garden.

Fertilizer

Eggshells are a great way to add calcium to your compost. Because shells have a very high surface area to volume ratio, they decompose very quickly. Don’t even worry about sterilizing or grinding them up. Just toss your shells on the pile or into the barrel and turn them under.

Alternately, you can incorporate crumbled eggshell directly into the bottoms of your planting holes in the spring.

During the winter months, distribute your shells over the plot of land where you will plant come springtime. Once the ground warms up, you can till the shells into the soil. If you are averse to the idea of having eggshells on the ground all winter, you can also clean and store the shells until planting season rolls around.

Seed Starter Pots

To use eggshells as starter pots you shouldn’t break them, just make a hole at the bottom of the shell when you plan on using the eggs. When empty, make a drainage hole to the eggshells and place them on a carton. Then, start filling each one with potting soil and prepare the seeds for the soil. Once the seedlings outgrow the eggshells, transplant them.

PEST-DETERRENT

If you have problems with slugs and snails in your garden, try sprinkling coarsely-crumbled eggshells around the plants where these slimy little pests like to dine.

The shells’ sharp edges deter snails and slugs by abrading the sensitive foot of any land mollusc that attempts to cross the barrier. Most snails and slugs will quickly emigrate from your garden in search of easier pickings.

Cat Deterrent

If a neighborhood cat thinks your garden is his own personal litter box, you need to engage in a little dissuasion. Cats have an aversion to eggshells, and they will keep any wandering kitties out of your garden beds. Just scatter eggshells in the areas that the cats frequent, and after stepping on those shells a few times, they'll decide some other garden is preferable to yours.

Feed the Birds as Supplement

Both before and after laying eggs, mother birds need more calcium in their diets. Sterilize your eggshells by baking them at 250°F / 120°C for about ten minutes so the shells are dry, but not brown on the inside. Then crumble your eggshells well and place them outdoors (in a feeder or even just on the ground) during the spring and summer. You can also mix the eggshell crumbles with birdseed, suet, or mealworms in an existing bird feeder. Either way, your healthy mama birds just might thank you for also dining on insect pests that may otherwise damage your garden.

AESTHETIC VALUE

Finely-ground eggshells can also be quite pretty.

If you have a large family or simply eat a lot of eggs, boil your shells to sterilize them, crumble them, then drop them into a large glass jar for storage.

Once you’ve collected enough shell crumbles, sprinkle them around and in between your plants. Not only will the eggshells help control pests and eventually add calcium back to the soil, the white color can also be a beautiful accent to your garden.

Repel Deer

Deer are amazing, but they can make a huge mess out of your garden if they come near it! The good thing is they hate the smell of eggs. So, scatter the eggshells all over those plants that the deer love. Placing eggshells in your garden will sure to scare them away.

Add-In Compost

Eggshells are the perfect candidate for composting. They break down quickly, and they add a nice dose of calcium to the soil. Just make sure the shells are dry before you add them to the pile so you don't attract any unwanted critters. If you have a worm compost bin, adding eggshells is a great way to maintain the proper pH level.