Looking for a simple, easy and safe way to save and store egg shells this winter to use in your garden next spring and summer?
Egg shells are an incredibly powerful resource for gardeners. They are loaded with calcium and a whole host of other trace minerals and nutrients. All of which are excellent for helping to power the soil and plants in your garden and flowerbeds.
Whether it’s placing crushed egg shells around the base of plants to help fend off slugs, using them as a soil amendment to help prevent blossom end rot on your tomatoes, or simply adding them to the soil to help energize and replenish lost nutrients, egg shells are truly a gardener’s best friend.
But what really makes egg shells truly incredible is just how plentiful they are! Egg shells, along with spent coffee grounds, happen to be two of the most common by-products of breakfast for millions of folks around the globe every single day.
If that wasn’t enough, they also happen to be a major ingredient in breads, pastas, pastries and cookies. In fact, the list of foods that require eggs for their recipe is quite staggering. And with all of those eggs being used, that means there are plenty on hand to use in your garden. Especially if you can save and store them safely to use whenever you need!
How To Save & Store Egg Shells Safely
All too often, the need for egg shells for your garden or flowerbeds arrives all at once. A great example of this is during spring planting, where egg shells can help almost everywhere in your garden and flowerbeds.
Looking to prevent blossom end rot on your tomato and pepper plants? Simply add four to six crushed egg shells into each planting hole. Want to help all of your vegetable and annual flower transplants develop strong stems and structure? Add four to six egg shells to all of your planting holes too!
Listen In To Our Podcast On Using Egg Shells & Coffee Grounds In The Garden…
The use of egg shells during the spring planting season doesn’t stop there. Crushed shells are great to mix in with your potting soil for healthier containers and hanging baskets. You can also sprinkle shells on the soil around tender plants to ward off slugs. See: How To Use Egg Shells To Power Your Garden
But with all of those uses, it can require quite the stash of egg shells to do the job! Unfortunately, unless you are feeding a small army at home, or happen to run a breakfast diner in your spare time, coming up with all of the egg shells you need all at once can be a big challenge.
The good news is that by simply saving your egg shells all throughout the year, you can always be sure to have plenty on hand when you need them. Not only is it easy, it doesn’t need to require a lot of space either. Especially when you grind them up first!
Pulverizing & Storing Egg Shells Safely
Grinding or crushing egg shells down to a fine powder has more benefits than simply allowing for better storage. When it comes to using egg shells in your garden and flowers, the finer the egg shells are ground, the more quickly they will benefit your plants.
Whole or large egg shell pieces can take a long time to break down. Until they do, they can’t provide much in the way of nutrients to your soil or plants. But when you crush eggs shells into a fine grind, the powder-like substance is able to release its nutrients into the soil much more rapidly.
This is exactly why you want to always add finely ground egg shells and not large egg shell fragments to your planting holes in the spring. This way, the calcium and other trace minerals can help your plants almost immediately.
In fact, other than using a few slightly broken shells around plants to protect them from cutworms and slugs, the majority of the time you will be using egg shells, it is best to have them finely ground. So why not store them that way from the start?
It’s fast, easy, and best of all, allows you to compactly store them in your freezer. Even better, you can store them safely, with no worries of mold, bacteria or foul odors!
Pulverizing & Freezing Egg Shells – How To Save & Store Egg Shells Safely In The Winter
Two of the biggest issues with storing egg shells are safety and storage space. Especially if you are trying to store egg shells all winter long. When left out, egg shells can create a bit of a foul odor from the leftover egg remnants inside the shell.
If the smell wasn’t bad enough, they can also grow bacteria and mold. And then there is the issue of where to store all of the shells until you need them. But by simply grinding them up and plopping them into a storage bag in your freezer, both issues are solved in an instant!
Flash Drying Egg Shells
To make our egg shells easy to grind, we place them on an old cookie tray and dry them out in the oven set on low for just a few minutes. This step can be omitted, but it makes the shells even easier to grind when completely dry.
Next, using a basic hand-held coffee grinder (a blender works will work well too), you can chop up egg shells in an instant. The grinder does a great job of creating a very fine powder that hand crushing simply can’t do. So fine that you fit hundred and hundreds of eggs into a freezer bag or container with ease.
Once in the freezer, the egg shells can remain without worry until you need them. And, if you use an easy-open freezer bag or container, you can add to them every time you have a few new egg shells with no problem at all.
One final note, always be sure to clean and sanitize your coffee grinder blades after chopping eggs in them. Warm soapy water will do the trick in a flash.
Using In The Spring – How To Safely Save & Store Egg Shells In The Winter
When spring planting season rolls around, you have a ready supply of egg shell powder. You can remove and use from the freezer as needed. And as a powder, it’s easy to take out only what you need, saving the rest for later.
Here is to saving and storing your egg shells the whole year around. And even better, to having them on hand to power your plants and soil whenever you need!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!