Don't Throw Away Eggshells, Add Them To Your Herb Garden To Watch It Thrive

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Herbs are some of the most rewarding plants to grow in your garden, as medicinal plants you can grow or as a source of fresh flavor for your culinary masterpieces. Herbs are relatively easy to grow, even in old wine boxes turned into container gardens for those short on space. Most herbs don't need a lot of fertilizer and can thrive in well-drained soil under abundant sunshine. But enhancing your herb garden with a common household compost ingredient — eggshells — could help create an ideal growing environment for these little flavor bombs. 

Most herbs need a neutral to slightly acidic soil to thrive, and if your pH is on the more acidic side (less than 6), you'll need to amend the soil to raise that pH to something in the 6 to 7.5 range. Many gardeners add lime to their soil to raise pH, and eggshells somewhat mimic the effects of lime due to their high levels of calcium carbonate. Don't know your soil's acidity? No problem. Soil test kits are often available free from your local cooperative extension office, or you can buy an easy-to-use tester like this soil test kit from NewTest. 

There are many unexpected uses for eggshells in your garden, but not all of their heralded benefits play out. While the pH-raising potential of eggshells can be helpful for herbs (and may even help stave off blossom rot in tomatoes and peppers), the impact of eggshells on other plant diseases, and on pests like slugs and snails, isn't all it's cracked up to be. Studies have found that snails and slugs crawl right over eggshells undeterred. 

What's more, the soil-altering results of shells may take a while to realize. If you've put eggshells in your compost, you know that they are slow to break down. This means their effectiveness to immediately fix your soil's acidity is limited. Baking and grinding the shells into powder may speed along their positive impacts. 

Even if the benefits are slow to emerge, the good news is that throwing egg shells into your herb garden won't harm your plants. In fact, some gardeners actually plant their herb starts in the eggshells themselves. The half shell forms a perfect little compostable cup for your herb and makes transplanting to the garden a breeze.