If you didn’t already realise, we aim to live a simple life, but one full of abundance, which lately from the garden means zucchini, tomatoes and eggs.
So, what do to with this abundance, well there is zucchini slice, cake, soup and tomatoes on sandwiches & crackers and soon passata and tomato sauce to make for winter months.
Eggs can be hardboiled for sandwiches or soft boiled for breakfast, turned into sponges, custards, scrambled with herbs or as an omelette for dinner. They are also very welcome gifts for those who live without chickens.
So, which came first the chicken or the egg?
It is a question that has vexed philosophers since the Greeks. But it seems that the answer to the beguilingly simple question of “Which came first? ”
The egg ! By scientists reasoning, the first chicken did indeed come from a chicken egg, even though that egg didn’t come from chickens!!
Well either way, what to do with the eggshells? Rather than throw them in rubbish bin destined for landfill there are many ways to use them
in your home and garden.
Egg shells are high in calcium, water, protein, fat, ash, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, potassium, sulphur and glutamic acid
Can you compost eggshells? Absolutely, they’re packed with calcium, which both plants and worms love. You can add them as they are but crush them first for the best results.
So how store eggshells: 
Clean the eggs after using them to avoid the inside membrane becoming mouldy and/or smelly.
Allow to dry in a sunny spot or pop into the oven after you’ve been cooking to dry them out.
Once dry, smash them with a potato masher, you can roughly, finely or very finely mash depending use.
Keep dry in a glass container, well-labelled, till you need them.
So how do you use the dried smashed up eggshells?
A good option is to feed them back to the chooks, by just popping them in the chook bucket they provide a calcium boost. I like to feed back this way, no point in giving the chooks any ideas about egg eating, as it is such a hard habit to break once started.
Use as a slow-release calcium boost perfect for the citrus.
You can place in the hole prior to planting or sprinkle around the tomatoes, the nutrients seem to help stop the blossom end rot.
Slow down the slugs and snails who can decimate seedlings overnight by sprinkling around newly planted seedling, apparently, they don’t like sliding across the sharp edges of the roughly smashed eggshell shards.
A easy non-toxic Abrasive Cleaner is made by adding 1 cup of finely mashed eggshell powder to 3 cups baking soda in a jar. With lid on shake to mix. To use, just mix the powder with vinegar (or water). Use on pots and pans (with baked-on food), shower doors (with months of gunk), toilet bowl rings and grout.
A cheap and easy Dog Health Boost is achieved by adding crushed eggshells. They are an excellent way to add extra calcium to your dog’s diet. Sprinkle the very finely crushed eggshells over your dog’s food. The extra calcium boost can help strengthen bones and teeth.
Or you can use the eggshells halves – I do like to clean out membrane or let dry out before using, just be safe.
Seedling pots, one of my favourites after cracking the eggs in half is to use both halves to plant in.
Just make a drain hole in the bottom, fill with potting mix, plant a seed and watch them grow, then plant the whole lot in the designated garden bed, the shell will breakdown and add nutrients to the soil around the growing seedling. I like this method for larger seeds, like pumpkin, corn, beans etc
And finally, a little bit of garden magic, make some decorative Candles, simply melt soy or bees wax, pour into clean dry 1/2 shell and add a wick. Keep your candle sitting upright by placing it in an egg cup or shallow bowl filled with sand.
Now brew an herbal tea from the garden,( mint, chamomile & lemon verbena) light your candles and sit , watch the chooks, smell your flowering nectary, listen to the wind, for a few simple moments in the sun, just allow yourself to believe in simple abundance.
“Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.” – Unknown
blessings to all Kerrie