Composting your Eggshells

At first you might be wondering "why on earth would you recycle your eggshells?".  We are here to tell you, there are so many reasons! Our main reason is that we love composting, and adding eggshells to your compost is a great way to incorporate calcium back into your soil. Anytime a plant grows in soil it absorbs the different nutrients it needs (such as calcium) through its roots! For a gardener, it is beneficial to amend your soil in between plantings to reintroduce nutrients the plants need to thrive. 

Much like how humans need calcium to grow strong bones, plants use calcium to help build strong cell walls! Lucky for us, eggshells are almost entirely made out of calcium. That means free fertilizer! Instead of discarding our eggshells, it is just as easy to give them a rinse, dry them out, and give their life another purpose. 

Instructions:

1. Rinse your eggshells underwater, don't worry about removing the membrane.
2. Place your shells in a place where they can dry out for a day or two. We like to put them in our windowsill behind our sink. This allows for them to dry out without being scooted off of the counter by our cats!
3. Once they are dry, the shells will crumble easily. Simply crush them up with your hands or in a blender. The size of the crushed eggshells is completely up to you, smaller eggshells distribute more evenly in soil.
4. Add to your compost or sprinkle around your plants! And there you have it, you were able to provide your plants and soil with the calcium it needs with something that would have otherwise been discarded!