Take a crack at these eggshell reuses:
1. Give them back to the Chickens.
We are more than happy to make use of your egg shells if you bring them back to us. To avoid any potential risk of outside illnesses or viruses being introduced to our flocks, we do insist that they are the egg shells from our own hens and ducks.
2. Compost for Naturally Fertilized Soil
Eggshells quickly decompose in the compost pile and add valuable calcium and other minerals to the soil in the process. If you don’t have a compost pile, then you can simply turn crushed eggshells directly into your garden patch. It’s still better than sending them to the bin.
It’s always best to crush your egg shells before adding them to your compost. You can even opt to put them through your blender or coffee grinder to crush them into small pieces to speed up their break down in the compost.
3. Sprinkle the eggshells around your garden to deter pests.
Soft-bodied critters like slugs or snails don’t like crawling over sharp pieces of eggshell. There are mixed results from this pest control method but it does no harm and your plants will surely benefit from the calcium and nutrient boost. Best used in conjunction with other pest control methods such as wool pellets.
4. Give your tomatoes a calcium boost.
Blossom-end rot is a common tomato problem, but I recently learned that it is actually caused by a calcium deficiency in the plant. Experienced gardeners often place eggshells in the bottom of the hole when transplanting their tomato plants to help combat this problem. I will be definitely trying that this year rather than adding the shell later.
4. Splendid Seedling Starters
Fill biodegradable eggshell halves with potting soil instead of using peat pots to start seedlings for the garden. And an egg carton on the windowsill is the perfect way to start a dozen tomato seedlings in shells before transplanting to the garden/greenhouse when spring in Ireland decides to show up.
5. Eco-friendly Household Abrasive
Shake crushed eggshells and a little soapy water to scour hard-to-clean items like thermoses and vases. Crushed eggshells can also be used as a nontoxic abrasive on pots and pans.