If you’ve got laying hens or not, having a close as possible to zero waste kitchen on a homestead is a priority for many homesteaders. Why? Because it teaches us to respect and stretch our resources as far as possible. In this post, you’ll learn a few other ways to use your eggshells to get the biggest bang for your buck.
Why repurpose your eggshells?
Even if you have laying hens and get your eggs “for free”, they aren’t really free.
Feed, fencing, coop, run, livestock guardian dogs, feeders, waterers, and probably many other things I am forgetting. All of these things it takes to raise backyard birds add up. Of course, many on this list are optional and not necessary but perhaps you do have them and they do cost money.
If you buy eggs from the farmers market or a neighbor whose basket runneth over, you’re still paying for them somehow.
It’s not “being cheap” to repurpose eggshells. It’s creative, useful, and beneficial. It teaches us to use up our resources.
Eggshells in Compost
Probably the easiest way to reuse your eggshells would be to add them to your compost bin. Don’t have a compost bin? Friend, why not?
Compost bins are an easy way to make your own compost right at home. Compost is fantastic to amend your garden soil. Here’s what it does.
Easy compost bins
Making your own compost bin is fairly simple and there are many ways to do it. A quick internet search ought to put you on the path that best fits you and your circumstances.
For our family, we use 3 trash cans with hole drilled all about them. One is always resting, one is always being filled up, and another is ready to use. These sit outside our backdoor which is near our kitchen for easy access. They sit right on the ground too which welcomes all the earth worms via the holes drilled in the bottom.
Eggshells make a fantastic addition to your compost. Crush them up and toss them in. The worms love them and your soil will love them later too as they continue to add calcium back into your soil.
Your vegetables will thank you for the extra nutrients by giving them back to you in their fruits your family will eat. Feed a few garden fresh veggies back to your laying hens as a treat and they’ll lay you more eggs. Don’t you love the circle of life?
Many others choose to compost right on the ground! That’s definitely affordable on any budget.
Eggshells as garden fertilizer for blossom end rot on tomatoes
Egghshells and tomato plants are basically like peas and carrots. They just go well together. Or maybe it’s because tomatoes NEED calcium.
Growing the juiciest, ripest red tomatoes each summer requires some help from you, the gardener. Tomatoes love calcium and one of the best and organic slow release fertilizers you can give them is recycled eggshells!
Add some crushed and powdered eggshells to the hole just before transplanting your tomato plant can help your tomatoes avoid blossom end rot. This happens from a lack of calcium intake by the plant.
Put about 3 tablespoons in the whole before transplanting the tomato.
Eggshells for chickens
Give the eggshells back to your birds! Yep. Chickens need and love the calcium boost.
About once a week I will sprinkle powdered eggshells into my laying hens’ feed. Extra calcium in their diet ensures they are getting the proper calcium needed for their eggshells to be strong.
How to prepare eggshells for chickens and garden use
This is not necessary if you are cracking and using a lot of eggs at one time. If you are keeping a jar on the counter to collect eggshells, they can become stinky and possibly attract fruit flies.
In the event the flies try to lay eggs or the ammonia smell is too strong, I like to bake my eggshells before blending them into a powder suitable for feeding the chickens and my garden.
After cracking and using each egg, I rinse each shell half well and let it dry. Then I will crush it slightly with my hand and add it to a mason jar that sits by the sink.
Once the mason jar is full, pour out the eggshells onto a baking sheet or casserole pan. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then allow the shells to cool before adding to a blender to make into a powder.
Store eggshell powder in a air tight container like a clean mason jar with a lid or an old pickle jar. I keep one jar with my chicken feed and one in the greenhouse with my other fertilizers.
Feed the pigs
Listen, pigs will eat just about anything and seem to have stomaches of steel! An eggshell is nothing for them to handle.
We are raising 3 kune kune pigs with friends on their property so twice a week, we take over scraps from our home. Things we weren’t able to compost because I don’t do that kind of composting where dairy and meat can go into the bins. Leftovers and stale bread, etc. They love it!
Occasionally I will throw in some eggshells. Added nutrients to the pigs too!
Eggshells for seed pots
Two halves of one egg can get you two adorable pots to start your seeds in!
This method has two benefits: zero waste of the eggshells and adding calcium to your garden soil.
Rinse the eggshells of any egg whites and membrane and let dry. Carefully poke a small hole in the bottom of each eggshell half. You may want to use a thin nail or brad. If you own a drill with different sized bits, carefully drill a hole using it.
Add well-moistened seed starting mix into each little shell half then sow your seed as directed.
Consider upcycling a plastic container like blueberries from the grocery come in or a plastic lettuce container. Perhaps even a casserole dish if you have one available. This allows the eggs to sit upright.
Consider lining your container with eggshell halves first then add the seed starter for better stability of each shell.
When you’re ready to transplant your seedlings, lightly crush the shell and plant it right into your garden.
No eggshells in the garbage disposal!
Please no. Why, when there are other options?
From what I gather, not having a garbage disposal myself, is that it is not a good idea to put eggshells down the garbage disposal. This is due to the egg membrane potentially wrapping around the blades causing clogs.
How can I use eggshells if I don’t homestead?
If you’re in the city or don’t own chickens or a garden, you can add eggshells to your container plants too! Be them patio vegetables or inside house plants.
Calcium is a nutrient all plants need but in varying amounts. Do a little research on your own for the plant you wish to feed. See how it can benefit from a calcium boost.
Eggshells: in conclusion
If you are purchasing eggs from the store or a neighbor with hens or you have your own hens, there are ways to stretch the dollar and get the very most from your eggshells. A few ways I have listed here in this post but it is not an exhaustive list.
It’s practical to find ways to not only be economical but to keep as much out of the landfill as possible. Which of these repurposing ideas do you use already? Any new ones to try? I’d love to hear in the comments!
More Zero Waste Ideas
Hey, fellow homesteader!
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If you try any of these ideas with your eggshells, come back and leave a comment or share a picture on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest so I can see it!
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