How to Recycle Cow Manure and Eggshells for a Healthy Garden!

Eggs are inexpensive and are an effective source of protein

But did you know eggshells are useful too?

Egg Shells

Eggshells are a brilliant way to add calcium to your soil and they decompose very quickly. Wash the eggshells and air dry them (a couple of days) then crush finely and store in a jar. I shall be adding crumbled eggshells directly to the bottom of my tomato and pepper planting holes before I plant them out, they will appreciate the extra calcium. It will also help in the healthy growth of the tomato plant and develop its resistance to diseases, especially blossom end rot which occurs when there is a lack of calcium.

Mother birds need lots of calcium in their diets. You can help! Sterilise eggshells by baking on baking sheets for around 10 minutes at 120 degrees Celsius, so the shells are dry, but not brown on the inside. Crumble your eggshells well and place them outdoors (in a feeder or even just on the ground) this will attract the birds for a nutritious treat. You can also mix the eggshell crumbles with birdseed, suet, or mealworms in a bird feeder.

Cow Manure

A great way to fertilise your garden

Our village cow farmer was kind enough to let us have some rotted manure he had sitting in one of his fields. We have used it all over the garden, on flower beds, the veggie plot, the fruit trees and raised beds.

Vegetables that like lots of manure are potatoes and marrows/courgettes/pumpkins. It’s the root crops that you should avoid manuring altogether such as carrots, parsnips, radish or swede as it causes the root to ‘fork’. Also, onions don’t need manuring either.

Cow manure is a nutrient-rich fertilizer and contains high levels of ammonia and potentially dangerous pathogens. For this reason, it’s usually recommended that it be aged or composted for at least 6 months prior to using it.

We fertilise our fruit trees in the spring to early summer but no later than July. We don’t want our fruit trees growing vigorously when they are supposed to be shutting down for winter!

I love to be able to recycle things and use them to our advantage. it makes sense. Just to add, we have a dehumidifier inside the house and save the water collected to water our indoor plants! Every recycle is a good recycle. Do you have any recycling hacks for the garden? I would love to hear from you if you do.