A productive garden cannot grow on dirt and water alone, there has to be some form of nutrients coming from some place. I use to watch my grandmother throw her eggshells around her plants and I had no idea why she did it. I just knew that her vegetables were always sweet and succulent. I never thought to ask her why she put her banana peels in her pots or why she utilized every natural thing in the house instead of throwing it away in the garbage. It turns out that some of the foods we eat can later be used to give nutrients, like calcium, to our garden. Here are a few tips on how to give your give your garden calcium!
Use what you have:
When you bake or cook breakfast with eggs, don’t throw those eggshells away so fast. Wash them out and collect them to use for later. Why? Well, because those eggshells are a source of calcium that your garden truly need. Calcium will help your plants to build membranes and cell walls, and keep them from contracting blossom end rot. One way to get your soil ready for your new crop is to mix the dirt with eggshells. The calcium will take a while to absorb into the plant, so the eggshells needs to be ground into smaller bits. It is suggested that you put them in a blender or food processor to ground them up, or you can pound them by hand in a bag. Till them into the soil or mix the soil by hand to make sure that it is mixed well. When you are ready to plant, your soil will be fertile and ready for action.
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Another way to add calcium to your garden is to use limestone. You will find calcite limestone and dolomitic limestone. Whichever one you choose, make sure that you till it well into the soil to get it mixed in well. It is suggested that you mix in the lime into the soil about 30 days before you add fertilizer. This is good to do in the fall so that your ground will have time to marinate for planting later, and this one application of limestone will last all year. Please have your soil tested before you add any nutrients because lime will cut the acidity, and you need to know if that is the correct choice for your soil to get the right PH. This is pretty important when you want to have good healthy vegetables.
There are other products that have calcium such as Gypsum and fertilizer. Check with your local garden store to ask for advice on which calcium boost would be best for you.
