If you're looking for ways to use eggshells around your house, you're not alone. As spring arrives in full force, the days get longer and the chickens begin to lay again. Those who have backyard chickens know what this means: lots (and lots) of farm fresh eggs!
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A bounty of eggs is always welcome in my house. We embrace the challenge of using the whole egg without creating waste. For example, when I choose to make a pasta dough that only uses the yolks, I always make a meringue with the whites to serve for dessert. It's easy to think of ways to prevent waste with food products, but what about the eggshells? You can't eat those ... right?
Actually, the shells themselves are filled with minerals and calcium, so you are truly missing out if you're throwing them away. There are nearly as many uses for eggshells as the eggs themselves, so wash, dry, and store your eggshells in an air-tight container or mason jar. Keep them handy until you decide which one of these 12 easy ways you choose to use up all of those crushed eggshells and more.
1. Eggshell Plant Starters
Carefully crack your eggs and clean them under running water. Poke a hole in the bottom of the eggshells for drainage and set them in the empty egg carton.
Add soil, a few seeds, and in a few weeks, you'll have a new plant. If you want to transplant it outside, you don't even need to remove the shell: just crack it and plant it. Watch your eggshell garden thrive, or keep them inside as a house plant booster.
2. Make Your Coffee Less Bitter
Grind them up in the food processor and put a spoonful of the shell powder in the coffee filter along with your ground coffee.
It will help clarify your coffee and make your coffee taste less bitter.
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3. Household Cleaner
Coarsely grind the dry eggshells and mix them with soapy water. Or, mix them with Borax and store the mixture in a glass jar or small container until you are ready to mix it with a little soapy water.
It makes a great, non-toxic abrasive cleaner for tough-to-clean pots and other items, like scrubbing pots and pans. Kitchen sink safe with minimal skin irritations, what more could you ask for?
4. Fertilize the Garden
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Crush the eggshells into tiny pieces. You can either put them in your compost heap or put them directly on top of the soil, adding much-needed calcium and minerals to your garden plot.
Try to avoid crushed shells that are closer to eggshell powder for your home garden.
5. Eggshells Deter Slugs and Deer
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Scatter them around your garden.
The smell of eggs will deter deer, and it will fend off soft-bodied insects that don't like crawling over sharp crushed egg, like slugs and snails.
6. Give Your Houseplants a Boost
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Give your houseplants a feeding boost by keeping a jar of eggshells covered in water for indoor plants.
It will infuse the water with calcium carbonate and minerals and make your indoor plants oh-so-happy!
7. Smoothie Calcium Supplement
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Eggshell calcium is one of life's greatest hacks. Bake the rinsed eggshell halves in a 350 degree F oven for eight minutes. Cool the shells and grind them into a fine powder.
Add a teaspoon or less to your morning smoothie to add extra calcium to your diet.
8. Make Eggshell-Shaped Candles
Carefully crack the eggs and clean them well under running water. Use paper towels to delicately scrub, but be careful not to crack the eggshells during the cleaning process. Fill the base with beeswax and insert a wick.
Once the wax has set, you can remove the peel if you wish. These make an adorable table setting that works any time of year from Christmas to a summer barbecue.
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9. Feed Them Back to the Chickens
If you have backyard chickens, crush up the eggshells and feed them back to your chickens.
The calcium boost will help them produce healthier eggs.
10. Make Dog Food
Don't have chickens, but you do have a fur baby? Treat him or her with some extra love.
Crush up those eggshells into their homemade food, adding calcium and minerals to their diet.
11. Nourish your Tomatoes
Do your tomatoes have blossom-end rot?
They may have a calcium deficiency that can be resolved by placing eggshells in the bottom of the hole when transplanting tomato plants.
12. Make Sidewalk Chalk
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Combine five to eight finely ground eggshells with 1 teaspoon of hot water and 1 teaspoon of flour.
Add the food coloring of your choice, mix it all up, and pack into toilet tissue rolls until it dries.
