Each time you crack an egg open, instead of tossing the shell into the trash, drop it into an open container that you keep in the fridge. (I’ve always saved my shells, but my friend Susan suggested keeping them in the fridge – works beautifully.) When the container is full, crush the shells into small bits and sprinkle them around the base of your plants. The sharp eggshells will deter slugs, snails, and other bugs from nibbling on your garden and add a touch of calcium to the soil.
[...] that in the images below you can see some of my seedlings surrounded by crushed egg shells to keep the bugs at bay. And that pepper plant? Grown from seeds I saved from a jalapeno. [...]
You can give yourself a GREAT facial w/ what’s left inside the egg shell. Just scoop what’s left of the egg white out and rub it all over your face. You should not eat, drink, speak or smile while this is drying (my sweet children make it their goal to make me laugh whilst I’m doing mine). I usually will let it stay on for about 30 minutes, then rinse off w/ lukewarm water. It’s a little thing but it makes me feel like a million $$.
I’ve got these around my zucchini plants at the moment. It definitely does help!
Melanie @ Frugal Kiwi recently posted..Dark Chocolate Grapefruit Truffles
Does this work for indoor plants?
We should rinse them first right?? I’d hope so.
It works primarily for crawling pests (think: slugs and cutworms) that you probably don’t have in your indoor plants! And wash them? I don’t.
I was concerned about the safety issue too, especially if storing the crushed shells for long amounts of time, so I bake them. No fuss, I don’t turn on the oven just for egg shells. Whatever temperature is called for in the recipe I’m making, and for however long it says to bake it is more than enough to kill any harmful bacteria on the egg shells. I just toss them on a cookie sheet and slide it onto an unoccupied rack while other items cook; it doesn’t impact the flavor of the food at all.
A few times I forgot the egg shells for a few hours but they didn’t scorch or burn, they just made a cozy crackling sound as they cooled.
Mine go into my bird’s food for extra calcium and the garden
If you carefully peel the skin off the inside of the raw eggshell, it can be used to draw out prickles that are too small to tweeze out. it creates a strong suction when applied, wet side down, on skin, then left to dry. if you try it on a bit of skin you will feel the pull.
What a great tip!
[...] Coffee grounds are excellent to sprinkle around the garden. Crushed eggshells are also a great addition to the garden. But don’t limit yourself to those; kitchen waste [...]
if you start seedlings for your garden, you can use the egg shell as a pot to put them in…when they get big enough, you can just give the shell a gentle crush when you plant them.
[...] your eggshells and use them in the garden. Click here to find out [...]
OOOOOOHH…….Be very careful putting eggshells in the garden. Although it may be a deterent for bugs, Skunks Love Them and will dig up your whole garden
We don’t have skunks here (YAY), but even when we were in prime skunk territory we never had problems with skunks getting into the garden. Curious to hear if others have found this to be a problem!