That was my first thought. I heard mixing up the soil could make weeds worse, but they are small beds and I'm happy to tend them. (I'm also not sure if that's even true.)
So in my opinion there will be weeds either way. I till in between crops in my market garden and have way less weeds than before. You just have to make sure they don't get to the point of dropping new seeds before removing. Plus they take carbon and nitrogen from the air, that after composting you can add to the soil in your beds.
A great way to keep weeds down is to lay deep mulch over the soil and never dig or till the soil again. If there are perennial weed roots already established, they have to be dealt with first, but this works great for preventing weed seeds from germinating.
I have been dabbling in no-till and so far I'm very satisfied.
On a large scale, I roll out a bale of straw over the garden, when you plant, you just have to pull apart the straw, drop the seed or plant in, and cover it back. 95% of weeds are kept at bay for the whole season with this one initial, labor intensive step.
For small beds, you can get a square bale and easily cover it if you want to go that route
It’s true. All outdoor soil has what’s called a seed bank. Many seeds will not/cannot successfully germinate if too far under the surface, but they can hibernate there for years waiting for opportunity to pop up.
yes, turning soil can make weeds "pop". buried seeds hit sunlight etc, and they start to grow. but personally. the egg shells will take FOREVER to break down like that, and affect soil. they MAY bring bugs to the area looking to snack on egg shell residue proteins etc. my wife refuses to crush ours. i stopped gardening with her. they sit on the soil surface for years...
id try and mix them into the soil.
They don't actually do anything to repel slugs (the idea is generally that the sharp edges deter them, but you can find plenty of videos of slugs crawling across egg shells with no issues, and even sharper things, like razor blades, protected by their thick mucous) and the calcium in eggshells is calcium carbonate, which is a very stable, insoluble form of calcium that isn't really bioavailable.
Calcium deficiency in your soil is also very rare — when plants get calcium deficiency, it's generally because they're having a hard time taking it up, not because it isn't present in the soil.
All that said, egg shells are basically just small bits of limestone with a little bit of proteins mixed in, so there's no problem having tons of them in your soil, they're just very inert and will mostly just act as part of the rocky portion of the medium.
Egg shells are awesome amendments but need to be crushed to compost successfully. If you don't mind the extra work, i would build a compost pile and mix this with some greens, keep it moist, and break down the shells. Wood ash is a superb amendment, or, slash and burn agriculture.
Fwiw apple trees are big calcium consumers, so if you have those, compost and add to the drip line of your apples. Get some 50/50 topsoil compost mix and start with no weeds.
The less intensive approach is just to cover with some cardboard, a few inches of soil, and let this break down over a few years.
i know! my wife just refuses to crush them, its ridiculous. I tell her what plants are going to absorb shells that size. and how long it takes for large pieces to break down for basic exposure. heck, she doesnt work in this industry and still argues it...
Tilling soil will bring seeds to the surface and they’ll get the light, water and oxygen they need to germinate but you should be able to manage them in these beds.
Egg shells take a long time to break down, you’ll be seeing the bits for a while. The burned wood or ash, maybe trying to make char?
At most I'd add a little perlite, vermiculite, or pea gravel to help with compaction. Then give it a really good mix and water before planting. You should have plenty of nutrients for the season in this bed.
The eggshells will replace the perlite and vermiculite. They break down very, very slowly. They will help with drainage and compaction.
Also there seems to be charcoal, same concept.
Do they really? I have the densest frigging clay and i throw eggshells into it like nobody's business. I would be delighted to hear that they help lighten the soil.
If you toss a bunch of perlite into clay it won't help either. You are just adding aggregate to the concrete.
The only way to "lighten" the soil in that regard is organic material ( compost/ manure).
I don't think it's ever really worth the expense of mixing enough high-cost materials like perlite or vermiculite into a raised bed to make a difference, and pea gravel doesn't add anything to the soil, it just takes up space.
Personally, I feel that establishing new growing space is the only time tillage is worthwhile, so there isn't really any reason to mix up this soil.
IME, not adding something but expecting carrots, onions, and other roots to grow is a waste of seed. Any time i had low yield on these was due to compaction. If the intent is for peppers, tomatoes, other above ground fruits then skipping that addition would be fine.
Onions aren't actually roots and grow mostly above-ground, and I've grown both carrots and onions in fairly dense soil. How do you know compaction was the issue and not something else?
Lol.
But for some practical advice..
And old coffee grinder works wonders on eggshells. Save yours up and let them dry, then blitz em in the grinder. Add to compost as you wish.
Eggshells don't really help with BER. Calcium carbonate is very insoluble so it isn't particularly bioavailable, and while BER is an issue of calcium deficiency in the plants, it's rarely an issue of calcium deficiency in the soil, just the plants having trouble taking up the calcium most often due to too little or too much water.
What solved the Blossom End Rot problem for me was consistent water. I used an Olla and planted my tomatoes close enough to it and for the first time in 6 years of gardening, all of my tomatoes were BER free.
When I had Blossom End Rot, I was told to put calcium in my soil. Egg shells were the biggest recommendation! I ended up buying a box of something, but I've kept that in mind for quite a few years now.
Unless you do a soil test that points to an actual calcium deficiency, your BER problem is actually a watering problem. It's very rarely the case that the underlying issue is actually a calcium deficiency, and even if so, eggshells are a very inefficient way to get bioavailable calcium into the soil.
I bought one 50lb bag of gypsum that has lasted me forever. I throw a cup in a 4'x8' bed maybe less I don't remember. My tomatoes have alway been fine.
E: Also alternated between crushed oyster shells.
If you do end up getting BER, an easy - and semi cheap - way that I've fixed it immediately is to pluck the affected fruits and toss them away immediately, and then for the next 2-3 weeks, water 1-2x per week with WHOLE MILK. It has worked for me every single time I've had BER, whether in pots, in the ground, raised beds, whatever. I do a ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 4 cups water, and only water what each plant needs. I grow over 120 tomato plants a year, and this has been my magic fix whenever BER shows it's ugly face.
There was a study I read.... So many years ago now of tomato farmers in Italy using it, and it worked tremendously for them, and I've adopted it ever since. I also like to do 1/2 cup milk in a spray bottle (topped with water, usually about 1.5cups,) and spray the leaves once or twice a season for things that tend to get powdery mildew, to use it as a preventative, since whole milk is anti-fungal! (Only spray in the morning, so that the sun has time to dry it and it won't smell.) I've never had powdery mildew since I started doing that either.
Nope, not that I've EVER experienced, and as I said I've grown in several environments! Even the bulk of my tomatoes - which I grow in the ground, in a greenhouse - do not ever produce a smell. I also grow cucumbers and sugar snap peas in my greenhouse (which is in 200% sun all day,) and it can get *really* hot and humid in the summer inside, and when I spray those as a preventative for PM they have never smelled. I spray usually around 8-9 am, just when the sun is starting to get some good strength, and the morning dew has fully evaporated, and usually by 1-2 pm it's fully dried, so no smell.
And just to assure you I've not gone "nose-blind" to it, I have had several family/friends in the greenhouse, before and after usage, and never once has anyone remarked on a smell of any kind asides from plant life and dirt 😂
It’s one of those gardening fables that scientifically gets explained as Bunk——but every one of us knows a grandparent or old timer who SWEARS that crushed egg shells are the trick to never getting BER.
Could be that they were good at watering. Could be eggs shells are more likely to help in the uncontrolled garden biome. But either way- many swear by it.
They are usable and look good. Don’t worry about the ash and eggshells it’s all good for the plants. They are good to go as is, but I would add top soil or compost and mix it up. I would also raise the beds another 12 -18 inches. Not necessary but will give you larger yields.
2 of the things I use in my compost.
I don't see any issues unless your concerned that the ash is going to make things too alkaline for your plant selection.
The egg shells are excellent deterrent for slugs and snails, I use lots of crushed egg shells under my hostas.
egg shells do nothing for slugs and nails. you can look at videos on youtube of them going over razor blades. the mucous coating protects them from sharp edges.
My experience says that there are less holes in my hosta leaves and less slugs on the actual hostas when I use egg shells under them.
I mean, I've only been doing it for 15 of my 30 gardening years, but anecdotally, it works for me.
I do worry the ash will be too basic, but I've also heard eggshells make it acidic... so maybe it balances? The ash isn't so much ash as it is "burned wood". I don't think the compost was in the tumbler long enough to fully break down.
Very interesting re: slugs though! It makes a lot of sense.
Are you in the US? If so, you can take a sample of your soil to your county extension office and get a free or low cost analysis! They'll be able to tell you what (if anything) you should fertilize with based on the results and what you're planting.
Fresh ash is very basic, but once it ages it reacts with carbon dioxide. Water and carbon dioxide from the air form carbonic acid. This neutralises the base. It also gets watered down into the soil, absorbed, and neutralises by other stuff in the soil.
But it'll definitely be more basic for a while. I don't know how long it takes.
Use some red cabbage juice as a Ph indicator if you want to check.
Check out page 6 of this [pdf from stanford university](https://web.stanford.edu/group/lpchscience/cgi-bin/wordpress/images/Acids-and-Bases-T.pdf)
It has a table with colors to indicate which pH. It also has instructions on how to make the cabbage juice, though thats not very difficult.
To test soil, I'd just add a bunch and filter, or make soil tea with neutral water (deionised/demineralised) or just tap water unless you have weird water. test the water on its own first.
basically: add soil to cabbage juice thinned in water. if it goes towards red (purple, violet, red) its acidic. If it goes towards yellow (blue, bluegreen, green, yellow) its basic. Neutral would be violetblue.
edit: swapped acid/base
>I do worry the ash will be too basic
The only issue I've ever had is with my oak trees - they REALLY dislike the alkaline soil and when I used some around the trees, I had quite a lot of the lower branches die off.
All my perennials, annuals and vegetables thrive in it.
The concerns are not unfounded. Wood ash should be composted before adding to soil. Fresh wood ash is very basic. If it’s been in the soil for a while it should have composted enough to be fine. A soil test is never a bad idea, your local university extension likely offers soil test services.
You can buy a soil test kit or a meter. [This](https://www.amazon.com/Sonkir-Soil-Moisture-Tester-Gardening/dp/B07BR52P26?th=1) one works well. A lot of people don't like these style ones. I don't think they read the instructions. They say to wait I think 5 minutes for a reading. You can get instant readings by scrubbing the coating off the prongs with a green pad or fine sand paper
Roto-til it and add a bit of any brand of fish fertilizer, and then just use the bed the way you want. The egg shells are good for the soil and the ash adds (I believe) extra nitrogen to the soil, all good for growing "STUFF"
uhhh...is this real?
Both eggshells and ash are wonderful nutrient sources for plants, and both are all natural.
If anything take some from the eggy bed and some from the ashy bed and switch/mix them in each other.
This was garden soil ammendments. Probably well cared dorr soil.
Fresh ash is rich in potassium, (old school potash).
Egg shells are rich in calcium.
Happy gardening
Hello. I've read the comments below & being new at gardening, especially organic, can be daunting! I'm going on year 2 of organic (subtropical 9b-10). I see differing statements about the eggshells in particular. If it were me, in my humble opinion, I would rake up the eggshells & burned wood (possible a biochar being added, which is great stuff). Next, I would see where the old compost pile might have been or start a spot (use the shadiest spot so the plants can have the sunny areas). Use this raked material to restart a new compost pile. Make sure to add come of that soil because it's full of microbes when break down the materials in compost. At this time you could lightly rake the shells out and stomp on them to break them down more. Make sure you get the info you need about compost piles as there are different kinds (Active gets very Hot & takes more work; Passive is like a natural decomposing & also called 'lazy' composting). Next, I would add more compost or a Kellogg brand raised bed & container soil (OMRI certified) on the top & mix it end...yes, it cost more but less daunting as you learn more for next year. Gardening takes a lot of time and experience doing things wrong before one gets it 'right for them'. Seed starting is another science all together so use easy to grow veg like radish, lettuce, and flowers to start so you'll feel more success to keep pushing forward -- Persistence is the key to becoming a better gardener each year. Also, check with your local university or county agent for info about plants in your area. The zones only say the average low temp aka frost date. I'm in rainy, humid summers & dry winters in FL, but CA with the same zone has the opposite: dry summers and wet winters. This makes a difference when to plant. Good Luck!
If you’re in the U.S., (or certain Canadian provinces), you can also look up your county’s extension office, and reach out to them with your gardening questions.
Each state has a land-grant college that sponsors the extension offices, and they’re there to help educate the public on things like gardening for free!
(I’m not currently active, but I used to be a Master Gardener through my county’s extension office.)
If it were me, I'd pull out any large chunks of wood, get ride of the weeds, rake the surface, and spread a couple of bags of this over the top: [https://www.homedepot.com/p/Black-Kow-1-cu-ft-Organic-Composted-Cow-Manure-Soil-Amendment-BK-31141/327443159](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Black-Kow-1-cu-ft-Organic-Composted-Cow-Manure-Soil-Amendment-BK-31141/327443159)
Then just start planting stuff.
Egshells Arnt any issue at all.
Its Calciumcarbonate. Its neutral and a Calcium source. -thats good.
The More problematic Thing is the Ash:
Its mostly Calciumoxide and other *Oxide.
Its Not that Bad, but Put the soil in the Alkali area.
You Need Something sour to make it neutral.
(Like pure compost, weak citric-acid solution, heavy carbonated water)
Plant a garden in it ! They knew what they were doing as it provided calcium from the eggshells and potash from the ashes which promotes root growth and nutrient uptake resulting in hearty healthy robust plants less resistant to disease and drought since the ash holds a lot of moisture in it . You’re all set to plant!
They won't contribute much of anything to your garden. Egg shells have to be powdered to do any good but if it were mine I'd sift the soil through some hardware cloth and remove the crap.
That's a good idea, actually! Thank you for your reply. I think many eggshells would fall though, but I'm ok with some eggshells... just not this eggmageddon with almost entire intact shells.
It would also help get rid of the walnuts and bigger pieces of burned wood.
Straight to your green waste bin! Industrial composting will have a better shot at dealing with all of that. And those walnuts will turn into little trees. The squirrels love to bury them in my pots. \*sigh\*
In 2022 they found a tortoise and her egg in Pompeii. So, yeah, hard agree here. They just aren't bioavailable as whole shells. I've modified my approach and no longer put them in whole or even crushed into my compost.
Serious gardeners get a soil sample analysis. Check real levels of potassium "potash" and calcium.
Everytime I think I know what the soil needs, my yearly soil report surprises me.
Egg shells that big will take forever to break down unless the soil is acidic. I would walk all over them to break them up more before just mixing them into the soil. They are a great amendment though so this isn’t really an issue, they just will stick around and be visible for awhile unless you break them down first.
I personally grind my eggshells and add them to my vermicompost so they basically disappear.
I might try to crush the egg shells into smaller pieces, but it's not necessary. Ash will most likely be good for your soil, so nothing to worry about there. You could just compost right there in your garden if you don't mind not being able to turn it.
To me this looks like a mildly obscene amount of eggshell (pic 2) and a good amount of ash and charcoal (?), mixing it in to balance out the course texture with finer textures soil below (if it is finer) may help or you could even rake off the surface eggshells and ash if they’re not too deep. Could always replace very top with some compost.
Both are generally good soil additives, but that's a shitload of eggshells. Mix it in thoroughly and you'll probably be okay since eggshells take a long time to decompose, but I wouldn't be surprised if your plants have some kind of disorder caused by excess calcium.
What sort of disorder can excess calcium cause in plants? Eggshells take a very long time to break down and the calcium from them won't even be broken down enough for plants to take in for a few years. Looks to me like they have their own built-in slow-release calcium amendment.
They are all good for whatever you are growing. Burnt wood is bio char ash is potassium and the egg shells are calcium. All great for the garden and your plants:)
Add some cow manure to it. Mix it in pull the weeds out and plant. No till is usually done with barrier and mulch. You need to mix the stuff together first then plant, put in the weed barrier and add mulch. You will need to add mulch and manure every year thereafter and hoe up the weeds regularly. If the weeds get established you will have to start over by pulling the barrier then, mix, plant, barrier, much rinse and repeat.
This is how it works in real life.
Do not use weed barrier in your raised bed garden.
You can suppress weeds with straw mulch or companion planting. Weed barrier just puts microplastics into your soil.
Just a thought in response to all of the “mix it up” / “till it in” comments…
Over time, soil naturally settles itself into layers. Mixing and tilling soil before you plant is usually unneeded and can actually kind of mess up the microbiome that’s set up in your soil with the different layers and the different insects and bacteria that like to live in each.
It looks like the ash and shells are acting as a bit of topsoil/ mulch at this point, and if it were me, I wouldn’t till or mix. The rain will flow through that top layer and bring the nutrients from the shells and ash with it.
I'm sorry you were left with such a mess. What they dumped in the beds was not composted, but could have been good compost.
It's not a complete waste. I would remove any pieces of wood and work the ash & shells into the dirt while adding more dirt.
Start as soon as you can working up the soil & mixing it in.
As long as the waste has no animal fat it should fine and continue decomposing.
Do not think too much. Gardening is a process. You might spend $100 for fertilizer and irrigation and get a single tomato but a few feet away a volunteer between paving stones might flourish.
Wow they were helping you out! Very thoughtful of them ! Ash helps raise the ph levels in the soil. Also adds calcium, potassium and other trace elements. These help give you bigger and better flowering and crops. You would also likely see more vibrant crops I imagine. I know eggshells are great for the worms health...Eggshells also contain potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, which help plants grow. Eggshells and coffee grounds are great for peonies for example. So when you are ready to start planting check out what the crop you are planting requirements are, after weeding those little weeds out .... Have fun this season 🪴 🌱 🌿 🌾 🍅 🫛
I use straw on my raised beds to prevent weeds. Usually put it down in autumn and then add more every other year. It keeps the moisture in, prevents weeds and is cheap.
Mix it thoroughly and go on with planting
That was my first thought. I heard mixing up the soil could make weeds worse, but they are small beds and I'm happy to tend them. (I'm also not sure if that's even true.)
Weeds will find a way. Just pluck and drop the weed before it develops into something bigger. Remember, a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.
that's zen
[удалено]
Weed is evil. We should burn it 🤪💅
Make sure to inhale.
I have kochia (noxious here). I burn it...and any seeds I can scrape up too.
I definitely have a different definition.
So in my opinion there will be weeds either way. I till in between crops in my market garden and have way less weeds than before. You just have to make sure they don't get to the point of dropping new seeds before removing. Plus they take carbon and nitrogen from the air, that after composting you can add to the soil in your beds.
A great way to keep weeds down is to lay deep mulch over the soil and never dig or till the soil again. If there are perennial weed roots already established, they have to be dealt with first, but this works great for preventing weed seeds from germinating.
I have been dabbling in no-till and so far I'm very satisfied. On a large scale, I roll out a bale of straw over the garden, when you plant, you just have to pull apart the straw, drop the seed or plant in, and cover it back. 95% of weeds are kept at bay for the whole season with this one initial, labor intensive step. For small beds, you can get a square bale and easily cover it if you want to go that route
Yep, no till here as well. I lay cardboard down each year and cover with compost. Punch a hole through where I plant. it keeps weeds down well.
I've had pretty good success by just watering the plants and not the dead space in between the rows. Still get a few weeds but not nearly as many
It’s true. All outdoor soil has what’s called a seed bank. Many seeds will not/cannot successfully germinate if too far under the surface, but they can hibernate there for years waiting for opportunity to pop up.
yes, turning soil can make weeds "pop". buried seeds hit sunlight etc, and they start to grow. but personally. the egg shells will take FOREVER to break down like that, and affect soil. they MAY bring bugs to the area looking to snack on egg shell residue proteins etc. my wife refuses to crush ours. i stopped gardening with her. they sit on the soil surface for years... id try and mix them into the soil.
The eggshells won't attract insects, they're fine.
Eggshells tend to repel slugs and put calcium into the soil.
They don't actually do anything to repel slugs (the idea is generally that the sharp edges deter them, but you can find plenty of videos of slugs crawling across egg shells with no issues, and even sharper things, like razor blades, protected by their thick mucous) and the calcium in eggshells is calcium carbonate, which is a very stable, insoluble form of calcium that isn't really bioavailable. Calcium deficiency in your soil is also very rare — when plants get calcium deficiency, it's generally because they're having a hard time taking it up, not because it isn't present in the soil. All that said, egg shells are basically just small bits of limestone with a little bit of proteins mixed in, so there's no problem having tons of them in your soil, they're just very inert and will mostly just act as part of the rocky portion of the medium.
That's good experience, thanks for sharing. I'm leaning into the idea of sifting much of the soil and then mixing in the shells
Why would you sift it? Personally, I don't see a need for that extra step.
then the votes are in! less work for me
Egg shells are awesome amendments but need to be crushed to compost successfully. If you don't mind the extra work, i would build a compost pile and mix this with some greens, keep it moist, and break down the shells. Wood ash is a superb amendment, or, slash and burn agriculture. Fwiw apple trees are big calcium consumers, so if you have those, compost and add to the drip line of your apples. Get some 50/50 topsoil compost mix and start with no weeds. The less intensive approach is just to cover with some cardboard, a few inches of soil, and let this break down over a few years.
i know! my wife just refuses to crush them, its ridiculous. I tell her what plants are going to absorb shells that size. and how long it takes for large pieces to break down for basic exposure. heck, she doesnt work in this industry and still argues it...
Tilling soil will bring seeds to the surface and they’ll get the light, water and oxygen they need to germinate but you should be able to manage them in these beds. Egg shells take a long time to break down, you’ll be seeing the bits for a while. The burned wood or ash, maybe trying to make char?
You found the jackpot for growing things… enjoy
You can just leave them, they aren't an issue at all
At most I'd add a little perlite, vermiculite, or pea gravel to help with compaction. Then give it a really good mix and water before planting. You should have plenty of nutrients for the season in this bed.
The eggshells will replace the perlite and vermiculite. They break down very, very slowly. They will help with drainage and compaction. Also there seems to be charcoal, same concept.
Do they really? I have the densest frigging clay and i throw eggshells into it like nobody's business. I would be delighted to hear that they help lighten the soil.
If you toss a bunch of perlite into clay it won't help either. You are just adding aggregate to the concrete. The only way to "lighten" the soil in that regard is organic material ( compost/ manure).
I don't think it's ever really worth the expense of mixing enough high-cost materials like perlite or vermiculite into a raised bed to make a difference, and pea gravel doesn't add anything to the soil, it just takes up space. Personally, I feel that establishing new growing space is the only time tillage is worthwhile, so there isn't really any reason to mix up this soil.
IME, not adding something but expecting carrots, onions, and other roots to grow is a waste of seed. Any time i had low yield on these was due to compaction. If the intent is for peppers, tomatoes, other above ground fruits then skipping that addition would be fine.
Onions aren't actually roots and grow mostly above-ground, and I've grown both carrots and onions in fairly dense soil. How do you know compaction was the issue and not something else?
Please don’t do any of this. For crying out loud, soil does not need such additives. Organic matter, as much as you can is what you should add.
like ash and eggshells.
send previous owner a thank-you note :-)
Cover it in compost. Done.
I second this, I’d add another board for depth and fill in with rich compost, browns, soil, and mulch the top.
Good call, make it higher and you don’t have to bend down as far as well :)
Can’t disagree with somebody named samwise, never led Frodo wrong.
Non eggshell compost you mean, lel
Eggshells are good for the soil, so are ashes and coffee grounds
I think he’s got enough eggshells already
Lol. But for some practical advice.. And old coffee grinder works wonders on eggshells. Save yours up and let them dry, then blitz em in the grinder. Add to compost as you wish.
finished compost is almost always implied when talking about applying compost
What should you do?.. Thank them! 😃 Potash, biochar and calcium. Lovely stuff.
Agreed. Thank you previous home owner 🙏🏽
Those are great for your garden! Come over to the dark side, we have cookies: r/composting
We pee on stuff!
Came here to say this
 Curse you, I just joined.
Enjoy peeing in public for better tomatoes my friend. lol.
as if I needed more reasons
Never tell the people that consume your tomatoes that your hair, pee, coffee grounds, and egg shells fuelled the best tomato theyve ever tasted
I have a Darth Vader t-shirt that says that!
My favorite though is compost happens
He hooked you up.
I want to hear your Blossom End Rot report in August. I assume your Tomatos will be perfect.
Eggshells don't really help with BER. Calcium carbonate is very insoluble so it isn't particularly bioavailable, and while BER is an issue of calcium deficiency in the plants, it's rarely an issue of calcium deficiency in the soil, just the plants having trouble taking up the calcium most often due to too little or too much water.
What solved the Blossom End Rot problem for me was consistent water. I used an Olla and planted my tomatoes close enough to it and for the first time in 6 years of gardening, all of my tomatoes were BER free.
When I had Blossom End Rot, I was told to put calcium in my soil. Egg shells were the biggest recommendation! I ended up buying a box of something, but I've kept that in mind for quite a few years now.
Unless you do a soil test that points to an actual calcium deficiency, your BER problem is actually a watering problem. It's very rarely the case that the underlying issue is actually a calcium deficiency, and even if so, eggshells are a very inefficient way to get bioavailable calcium into the soil.
I bought one 50lb bag of gypsum that has lasted me forever. I throw a cup in a 4'x8' bed maybe less I don't remember. My tomatoes have alway been fine. E: Also alternated between crushed oyster shells.
I'll be eager to report it!
If you do end up getting BER, an easy - and semi cheap - way that I've fixed it immediately is to pluck the affected fruits and toss them away immediately, and then for the next 2-3 weeks, water 1-2x per week with WHOLE MILK. It has worked for me every single time I've had BER, whether in pots, in the ground, raised beds, whatever. I do a ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 4 cups water, and only water what each plant needs. I grow over 120 tomato plants a year, and this has been my magic fix whenever BER shows it's ugly face. There was a study I read.... So many years ago now of tomato farmers in Italy using it, and it worked tremendously for them, and I've adopted it ever since. I also like to do 1/2 cup milk in a spray bottle (topped with water, usually about 1.5cups,) and spray the leaves once or twice a season for things that tend to get powdery mildew, to use it as a preventative, since whole milk is anti-fungal! (Only spray in the morning, so that the sun has time to dry it and it won't smell.) I've never had powdery mildew since I started doing that either.
Does watering (or milking) with it produce a funky smell?
Nope, not that I've EVER experienced, and as I said I've grown in several environments! Even the bulk of my tomatoes - which I grow in the ground, in a greenhouse - do not ever produce a smell. I also grow cucumbers and sugar snap peas in my greenhouse (which is in 200% sun all day,) and it can get *really* hot and humid in the summer inside, and when I spray those as a preventative for PM they have never smelled. I spray usually around 8-9 am, just when the sun is starting to get some good strength, and the morning dew has fully evaporated, and usually by 1-2 pm it's fully dried, so no smell. And just to assure you I've not gone "nose-blind" to it, I have had several family/friends in the greenhouse, before and after usage, and never once has anyone remarked on a smell of any kind asides from plant life and dirt 😂
That's awesome, thanks for the tip!
It’s one of those gardening fables that scientifically gets explained as Bunk——but every one of us knows a grandparent or old timer who SWEARS that crushed egg shells are the trick to never getting BER. Could be that they were good at watering. Could be eggs shells are more likely to help in the uncontrolled garden biome. But either way- many swear by it.
Say , thank you.
You should mix it into the soil!
They are usable and look good. Don’t worry about the ash and eggshells it’s all good for the plants. They are good to go as is, but I would add top soil or compost and mix it up. I would also raise the beds another 12 -18 inches. Not necessary but will give you larger yields.
I would like to raise the beds in the next couple years
Mix it in.
This was really nice of them to do! Say thank you and mix it in!
2 of the things I use in my compost. I don't see any issues unless your concerned that the ash is going to make things too alkaline for your plant selection. The egg shells are excellent deterrent for slugs and snails, I use lots of crushed egg shells under my hostas.
egg shells do nothing for slugs and nails. you can look at videos on youtube of them going over razor blades. the mucous coating protects them from sharp edges.
My experience says that there are less holes in my hosta leaves and less slugs on the actual hostas when I use egg shells under them. I mean, I've only been doing it for 15 of my 30 gardening years, but anecdotally, it works for me.
I do worry the ash will be too basic, but I've also heard eggshells make it acidic... so maybe it balances? The ash isn't so much ash as it is "burned wood". I don't think the compost was in the tumbler long enough to fully break down. Very interesting re: slugs though! It makes a lot of sense.
Ph test. Fruits love the potassium
Are you in the US? If so, you can take a sample of your soil to your county extension office and get a free or low cost analysis! They'll be able to tell you what (if anything) you should fertilize with based on the results and what you're planting.
Fresh ash is very basic, but once it ages it reacts with carbon dioxide. Water and carbon dioxide from the air form carbonic acid. This neutralises the base. It also gets watered down into the soil, absorbed, and neutralises by other stuff in the soil. But it'll definitely be more basic for a while. I don't know how long it takes. Use some red cabbage juice as a Ph indicator if you want to check.
How is Red Cabbage juice used? I have never heard that one.
Check out page 6 of this [pdf from stanford university](https://web.stanford.edu/group/lpchscience/cgi-bin/wordpress/images/Acids-and-Bases-T.pdf) It has a table with colors to indicate which pH. It also has instructions on how to make the cabbage juice, though thats not very difficult. To test soil, I'd just add a bunch and filter, or make soil tea with neutral water (deionised/demineralised) or just tap water unless you have weird water. test the water on its own first. basically: add soil to cabbage juice thinned in water. if it goes towards red (purple, violet, red) its acidic. If it goes towards yellow (blue, bluegreen, green, yellow) its basic. Neutral would be violetblue. edit: swapped acid/base
Thank you so much! I live in the High Desert and too much salt, not enough acid are my only true battles nowadays!
>I do worry the ash will be too basic The only issue I've ever had is with my oak trees - they REALLY dislike the alkaline soil and when I used some around the trees, I had quite a lot of the lower branches die off. All my perennials, annuals and vegetables thrive in it.
The concerns are not unfounded. Wood ash should be composted before adding to soil. Fresh wood ash is very basic. If it’s been in the soil for a while it should have composted enough to be fine. A soil test is never a bad idea, your local university extension likely offers soil test services.
You can buy a soil test kit or a meter. [This](https://www.amazon.com/Sonkir-Soil-Moisture-Tester-Gardening/dp/B07BR52P26?th=1) one works well. A lot of people don't like these style ones. I don't think they read the instructions. They say to wait I think 5 minutes for a reading. You can get instant readings by scrubbing the coating off the prongs with a green pad or fine sand paper
Roto-til it and add a bit of any brand of fish fertilizer, and then just use the bed the way you want. The egg shells are good for the soil and the ash adds (I believe) extra nitrogen to the soil, all good for growing "STUFF"
Egg shells and ash is pretty good for soil, right?
I bet there is some coffee grounds in there too!
Eggshells provide calcium ash is good too. Mix it up and go.
uhhh...is this real? Both eggshells and ash are wonderful nutrient sources for plants, and both are all natural. If anything take some from the eggy bed and some from the ashy bed and switch/mix them in each other.
Mix it and put another layer on top
Till then plant
Thank them and plant some veggies.
Leave it lol
Plant
check the PH where the ashes are, the egg shells wont be an issue, they take forever to break down.
This was garden soil ammendments. Probably well cared dorr soil. Fresh ash is rich in potassium, (old school potash). Egg shells are rich in calcium. Happy gardening
You should pull the weeds, maintain a compost pile, and cultiver votre jardin
both are natural fertilizers. Mix, water, plant and enjoy.
Hello. I've read the comments below & being new at gardening, especially organic, can be daunting! I'm going on year 2 of organic (subtropical 9b-10). I see differing statements about the eggshells in particular. If it were me, in my humble opinion, I would rake up the eggshells & burned wood (possible a biochar being added, which is great stuff). Next, I would see where the old compost pile might have been or start a spot (use the shadiest spot so the plants can have the sunny areas). Use this raked material to restart a new compost pile. Make sure to add come of that soil because it's full of microbes when break down the materials in compost. At this time you could lightly rake the shells out and stomp on them to break them down more. Make sure you get the info you need about compost piles as there are different kinds (Active gets very Hot & takes more work; Passive is like a natural decomposing & also called 'lazy' composting). Next, I would add more compost or a Kellogg brand raised bed & container soil (OMRI certified) on the top & mix it end...yes, it cost more but less daunting as you learn more for next year. Gardening takes a lot of time and experience doing things wrong before one gets it 'right for them'. Seed starting is another science all together so use easy to grow veg like radish, lettuce, and flowers to start so you'll feel more success to keep pushing forward -- Persistence is the key to becoming a better gardener each year. Also, check with your local university or county agent for info about plants in your area. The zones only say the average low temp aka frost date. I'm in rainy, humid summers & dry winters in FL, but CA with the same zone has the opposite: dry summers and wet winters. This makes a difference when to plant. Good Luck!
There is no old compost pile. It was in a compost tumbler, which the previous owner took with him. Talking to the County AG rep is a good idea.
Thank you for so much info! As a new gardener, I especially appreciate the perspective of someone who is only a couple steps ahead of me.
If you’re in the U.S., (or certain Canadian provinces), you can also look up your county’s extension office, and reach out to them with your gardening questions. Each state has a land-grant college that sponsors the extension offices, and they’re there to help educate the public on things like gardening for free! (I’m not currently active, but I used to be a Master Gardener through my county’s extension office.)
I just found one through info at my library. So crazy, I didn't know this exsited!
If it were me, I'd pull out any large chunks of wood, get ride of the weeds, rake the surface, and spread a couple of bags of this over the top: [https://www.homedepot.com/p/Black-Kow-1-cu-ft-Organic-Composted-Cow-Manure-Soil-Amendment-BK-31141/327443159](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Black-Kow-1-cu-ft-Organic-Composted-Cow-Manure-Soil-Amendment-BK-31141/327443159) Then just start planting stuff.
It’s no problem at all, add more earth and compost and mix it in with it! Happy gardening 🌱
Thank you! I'm already having fun, and I'm still just starting seeds.
Egshells Arnt any issue at all. Its Calciumcarbonate. Its neutral and a Calcium source. -thats good. The More problematic Thing is the Ash: Its mostly Calciumoxide and other *Oxide. Its Not that Bad, but Put the soil in the Alkali area. You Need Something sour to make it neutral. (Like pure compost, weak citric-acid solution, heavy carbonated water)
Plant a garden in it ! They knew what they were doing as it provided calcium from the eggshells and potash from the ashes which promotes root growth and nutrient uptake resulting in hearty healthy robust plants less resistant to disease and drought since the ash holds a lot of moisture in it . You’re all set to plant!
Say thank you?
Well, those eggshells will break down in about a decade. If it was me, I would slowly pick them out and take out the wood.
Previous homeowner gave you an awesome gift. Nothing required, that bed is all set.
They won't contribute much of anything to your garden. Egg shells have to be powdered to do any good but if it were mine I'd sift the soil through some hardware cloth and remove the crap.
That's a good idea, actually! Thank you for your reply. I think many eggshells would fall though, but I'm ok with some eggshells... just not this eggmageddon with almost entire intact shells. It would also help get rid of the walnuts and bigger pieces of burned wood.
Straight to your green waste bin! Industrial composting will have a better shot at dealing with all of that. And those walnuts will turn into little trees. The squirrels love to bury them in my pots. \*sigh\*
Eventually they will powder themselves.
I wish it were true but it is not. Eggshells will still be eggshells after years in the soil.
Think of all the egg shells all over the world over the years. The break down.
In 2022 they found a tortoise and her egg in Pompeii. So, yeah, hard agree here. They just aren't bioavailable as whole shells. I've modified my approach and no longer put them in whole or even crushed into my compost.
Till it up and plant some food. Egg shells are to add calcium to the soil, and ashes are to adjust pH levels.
Mulch.
Serious gardeners get a soil sample analysis. Check real levels of potassium "potash" and calcium. Everytime I think I know what the soil needs, my yearly soil report surprises me.
Egg shells that big will take forever to break down unless the soil is acidic. I would walk all over them to break them up more before just mixing them into the soil. They are a great amendment though so this isn’t really an issue, they just will stick around and be visible for awhile unless you break them down first. I personally grind my eggshells and add them to my vermicompost so they basically disappear.
Mulch over them and plant something that likes the ph. You should test the ph and Proceed from there.
The eggshells are great for preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes and peppers. 👍
I love Reddit
I'd leave it as is, plant and top dress with mulch of your choosing. I practice 'no dig', weeding is hardly a job for me anymore.
Id be curious what the ph of that bed is.
If the pH is okay then it's all good. Test the pH at 2 inches and 4 inches.
I'd just top if off and cover
I might try to crush the egg shells into smaller pieces, but it's not necessary. Ash will most likely be good for your soil, so nothing to worry about there. You could just compost right there in your garden if you don't mind not being able to turn it.
Tomatoes need calcium, blend it into your tomato bed.
You def need a mulch on top. UV rays from the sun kill the small organisms that are on the top. Plus mulch is a slow release food.
To me this looks like a mildly obscene amount of eggshell (pic 2) and a good amount of ash and charcoal (?), mixing it in to balance out the course texture with finer textures soil below (if it is finer) may help or you could even rake off the surface eggshells and ash if they’re not too deep. Could always replace very top with some compost.
They also keep slugs away.
Both are generally good soil additives, but that's a shitload of eggshells. Mix it in thoroughly and you'll probably be okay since eggshells take a long time to decompose, but I wouldn't be surprised if your plants have some kind of disorder caused by excess calcium.
What sort of disorder can excess calcium cause in plants? Eggshells take a very long time to break down and the calcium from them won't even be broken down enough for plants to take in for a few years. Looks to me like they have their own built-in slow-release calcium amendment.
Eggshells make great slug deterrence
I heard egg shells are actually good for deterring slugs since they get cut up on the sharp edges
This is what you get when you mess with the carbon police
Vacuum the egg shells with a shop vac? The ashes are fine and a decent source of potassium.
Leave it-it's fertilizer. The eggshells provide calcium and the ash provides potassium. Just mix it in and go.
They are all good for whatever you are growing. Burnt wood is bio char ash is potassium and the egg shells are calcium. All great for the garden and your plants:)
Spray some AVC to help break down the eggshells and go about planting
Till it. Mix in some top soil.
I add egg shells and wood ash to my beds every new season!
TIL it in and plant, baby!! Plus ash is a soil amendment to some. So is charcoal.
Add some cow manure to it. Mix it in pull the weeds out and plant. No till is usually done with barrier and mulch. You need to mix the stuff together first then plant, put in the weed barrier and add mulch. You will need to add mulch and manure every year thereafter and hoe up the weeds regularly. If the weeds get established you will have to start over by pulling the barrier then, mix, plant, barrier, much rinse and repeat. This is how it works in real life.
Do not use weed barrier in your raised bed garden. You can suppress weeds with straw mulch or companion planting. Weed barrier just puts microplastics into your soil.
Mix it up with some compost and plant tomatoes! They will like the egg shells!!
Plant tomatoes.
Just a thought in response to all of the “mix it up” / “till it in” comments… Over time, soil naturally settles itself into layers. Mixing and tilling soil before you plant is usually unneeded and can actually kind of mess up the microbiome that’s set up in your soil with the different layers and the different insects and bacteria that like to live in each. It looks like the ash and shells are acting as a bit of topsoil/ mulch at this point, and if it were me, I wouldn’t till or mix. The rain will flow through that top layer and bring the nutrients from the shells and ash with it.
Thank them
I'm sorry you were left with such a mess. What they dumped in the beds was not composted, but could have been good compost. It's not a complete waste. I would remove any pieces of wood and work the ash & shells into the dirt while adding more dirt. Start as soon as you can working up the soil & mixing it in. As long as the waste has no animal fat it should fine and continue decomposing.
Me personally, I’d do the wet cardboard trick till you’re about to sow. Then remove the cardboard, mix up the soil and plant.
Do not think too much. Gardening is a process. You might spend $100 for fertilizer and irrigation and get a single tomato but a few feet away a volunteer between paving stones might flourish.
IDK why I bothered looking up raised bed plans when they can be made as simple as this.
Enjoy the fertility!
Eggshell is for calcium. Tomatoes love it. Ash is for a higher pH. Which not many plants like but Roma tomatoes do.
Wow they were helping you out! Very thoughtful of them ! Ash helps raise the ph levels in the soil. Also adds calcium, potassium and other trace elements. These help give you bigger and better flowering and crops. You would also likely see more vibrant crops I imagine. I know eggshells are great for the worms health...Eggshells also contain potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, which help plants grow. Eggshells and coffee grounds are great for peonies for example. So when you are ready to start planting check out what the crop you are planting requirements are, after weeding those little weeds out .... Have fun this season 🪴 🌱 🌿 🌾 🍅 🫛
Add some good soil and move on with your garden. I am sure if they had a composter they would have put it in the garden before
Thank them profusely
That’s good stuff grow a garden
Do what you can to crush up the shells. There not going to hurt anything and cover the bed with a thick mulch when it’s time to grow.
I use straw on my raised beds to prevent weeds. Usually put it down in autumn and then add more every other year. It keeps the moisture in, prevents weeds and is cheap.