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Incorporating powdered eggshells into garden soil stands as one of the finest methods to replenish essential nutrients. Apart from boasting a rich calcium content, eggshells also harbor a comprehensive array of crucial minerals vital for plant growth.
What truly underscores the incredible value of eggshells is their sheer abundance! Alongside spent coffee grounds, eggshells rank among the most prevalent by-products from the breakfast routine of millions worldwide, day in and day out.
Adding to their ubiquity, eggshells constitute a significant ingredient in a multitude of culinary staples like bread, pasta, pastries, and cookies. The extensive list of dishes reliant on eggs in their recipes is staggering. With such widespread egg usage, there’s a surplus available for garden use, especially when stored safely and effectively for future use!
How To Save & Store Egg Shells Safely
Frequently, the demand for eggshells in gardens or flowerbeds arises abruptly, particularly during the spring planting season, where eggshells prove beneficial across various areas in your garden and flowerbeds.
To thwart blossom end rot on tomato and pepper plants, a simple remedy involves adding four to six crushed eggshells into each planting hole. For robust stems and structure in vegetable and annual flower transplants, incorporating four to six eggshells into all planting holes is highly effective.
The utilization of eggshells doesn’t cease during spring planting. Crushed shells serve as an excellent addition to potting soil, enhancing the health of containers and hanging baskets. Moreover, sprinkling shells around delicate plants acts as a deterrent against slugs.
However, the multitude of uses necessitates a substantial supply of eggshells! Unless you’re catering to a large household or managing a breakfast diner on the side, accumulating a sufficient quantity of eggshells all at once poses a considerable challenge.
The silver lining lies in the simple act of consistently saving your eggshells throughout the year. This ensures a plentiful reserve whenever needed, an effortless process that doesn’t demand excessive storage space, especially when you grind them beforehand!
Pulverizing & Storing Egg Shells Safely
Pulverizing or crushing eggshells into a fine powder offers more advantages than just facilitating easier storage. In the realm of garden and flower usage, the finer the grind of eggshells, the swifter they benefit your plants.
Intact or sizable eggshell fragments often undergo a lengthy breakdown process. Until this breakdown occurs, they contribute minimally to soil or plant nutrients. However, finely crushing eggshells into a powdery form accelerates the release of their nutrients into the soil, fostering rapid absorption by plants.
A compact electric coffee grinder effortlessly turns a handful of eggshells into a fine powder. This powder stores well in the freezer for extended periods, and upon use, it releases its nutrients more rapidly compared to larger eggshell fragments.
That’s precisely why opting for finely ground eggshells instead of larger fragments is crucial when adding them to your planting holes in spring. This way, the calcium and other essential trace minerals can swiftly benefit your plants.
Apart from utilizing a few slightly fragmented shells around plants to shield them from cutworms and slugs, for most applications, finely ground eggshells prove most effective. Storing them in this form right from the start is a wise choice.
It’s a swift, effortless process that allows for compact storage in your freezer. Even better, storing them in this manner ensures safety without concerns about mold, bacteria, or unpleasant odors!
Pulverizing & Freezing Egg Shells – How To Save & Store Egg Shells Safely In The Winter
Safety and storage space pose significant challenges when it comes to storing eggshells, particularly during the winter months. Left untreated, eggshells can emit unpleasant odors due to residual egg remnants within the shell.
Moreover, they are prone to bacterial growth and mold formation, compounding the problem. Finding adequate space for storing the shells until their use adds to the dilemma. However, by grinding them into a fine consistency and placing them in a storage bag within your freezer, both concerns are promptly resolved!
Flash Drying Egg Shells
For convenient grinding, we lay out our eggshells on an old cookie tray and briefly dry them in the oven set at a low temperature for just a few minutes. While optional, this step significantly facilitates the grinding process when the shells are thoroughly dry.
A simple coffee grinder is ideal for transforming eggshells into a nearly powdery consistency. Just as it handles coffee beans, a small grinder swiftly crushes down the shells!
Then, employing a basic hand-held coffee grinder (alternatively, a blender works just as well), you can swiftly pulverize the eggshells. The grinder excels in producing an exceedingly fine powder that surpasses what hand crushing can achieve. The resulting texture allows you to easily store hundreds of eggs in a freezer bag or container.
Once stowed in the freezer, the eggshells can be kept without concern until they’re required. Moreover, utilizing an easy-to-open freezer bag or container permits you to continually add new eggshells without any hassle.
A final reminder: always ensure to thoroughly clean and sanitize your coffee grinder blades after processing eggs. A quick wash with warm, soapy water does the trick efficiently.
Using In The Spring – How To Safely Save & Store Egg Shells In The Winter
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