Friday Fun Fact Uses For Egg Shells

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Eggs. One week they are good for you the next week they are not. But one thing is as certain as death and taxes there are many beneficial uses for eggshells that usually end up in the garbage disposal or trash.

Here are a few uses for these amazing little item you discard so easily.

Deer are a pain in Montana but as luck would have it they hate the way eggs smell. Spread some eggshells around your garden and crush some to put on leaves that pests are feeding on. Slugs and snails can’t go over the jagged edges of shells so put some around the perimeter and your garden will be pest free.
Use eggshells for aching joints. Break up an egg shell and cover it with vinegar in a sealed jar. The shell will dissolve in a couple of days giving the mixture nutrients like collagen, chondroitin, glucosamine, and hyaluronic acid. Can be stored for months. Rub the solution on those achey-brakey spots and feel better.
Household cleaners smell bad; they irritate skin, and sinuses for many people. An easy solution is to pulverize dried eggshells into a powder. Dust the surface with the eggshell power and clean with a soapy sponge or dishcloth. The abrasive eggshells will safely clean most surfaces easily. Store in a covered plastic container and breathe easier.
If you make your coffee at home, like I do, you want it to be as good as possible. Coffee sometimes has an acidic taste that can upset weaker stomachs. Adding a teaspoon of crushed eggshells to the grounds before brewing will introduce alkaline calcium carbonate to the mix to neutralize the acid and smooth out the taste.
Birds love eggshells but there is some prep involved. You need to bake them in a 250-degree oven for about 20 minutes. You need them dry not brown. Crush them into small pieces and add them to the tray or base of your bird feeder. The calcium in the shells will help the female birds lay eggs with tougher shells. They also use the pieces as nest building material.
Growing good tomatoes is hard enough but adding some eggshells to the potting mix can reduce or even prevent blossom-end rot. Once again it’s the calcium that helps the plants grow faster. You can also use eggshells for starter pots for seedlings.