At Booyong we are always learning how to recycle and utilize food scraps in the house and garden.

After researching their uses we’ll never throw eggshells away again, they are fantastic and packed full of calcium and nutrients for the garden.

The easiest way we’ve found to prepare the eggs is to wash out the membrane after use and place them on the window sill to dry. You can feel the slimy texture of the shell and it washes out easily.

There are a few different ways to prepare and dry out the eggshells and we have tried both. You can either place them on a baking tray in the oven for about an hour at 50 degrees and let them cool or place them in the fridge in a container over night to dry out. We prefer the fridge method as it uses less energy, and when we tried the oven we accidentally left them in and burnt them.

When they are dry and without the membrane they are easier to crush. This is done be either using a blender (we used the nutri bullet) or crushing with the back of a large flat spoon. The finer they are the quicker and easier they will break down and they can then be stored in an airtight container until ready for use.

What you can use them for:

• Add them to chicken feed once a week to increase calcium intake and result in harder shells (especially helpful during summer when chickens are laying a lot of eggs)
• Combine 1 Tablespoon of egg shells (calcium) with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts (magnesium) and add to the soil when planting tomatoes or capsicum. This will add calcium to the soil and prevent blossom end rot whilst also promoting plant growth.
• Add them to compost for added calcium
• To make fertilizer break the shells up fine and add to warm water to draw out the calcium and place in a clean spray bottle. Epsom salt or fish fertilizer can be added to this mixture to create a fertilizer spray.
• Large broken pieces can be used to sprinkle around the base of plants to deter snails.
• They can be used as seed pods when broken in half and seedling mix is added.
• The fine eggshell powder can be dusted on leaves to kill pests.
• They can be fed to your worms and used as bedding material.

So many fantastic uses, and such an easy process!