Home Gardener...Planning for Planting Success!

It is only the third week of October and many gardeners are already thinking about next year’s garden: how to make it gorgeous looking and more productive!  It seems a bit early but not actually.  Planning is important. I have some things you can start doing now.   I will detail one in this post and some others in upcoming garden postings.

Here it is, drum roll……Save all your egg shells.  That’s it…really a simple but important action.  Just put them in a plastic bag as you use them and once they are dry, smash them all up finely.  Keep saving and saving until next spring.  If they are dry they keep for years.

Why save egg shells?  Simple, they are a great free source of calcium for your vegetables.  Calcium is very much needed in your garden.  Specifically, it prevents blossom end rot which is common for tomatoes but can occur in a range of veggies including eggplants and melons like watermelons and cantaloupes.  It can ruin your tomato crop especially if the rainfall is too heavy or uneven. (dry and wet spells)  

I have sprinkled lots of shells in the holes dug for my tomatoes and sometimes for peppers but not for other vegetables.  It does work so I am ready to expand my eggshell therapy program to more plants.  Recently I heard it said that cucumbers grown with egg shells have a better flavor.  I love crisp, bright tasting cucumbers so I am raring to try it on them next year.

The rule of thumb is to use about a dozen crushed egg shells per tomato plant.  Ditto for a lot of your other garden babies: eggplants, peppers, cucumbers and all sorts of melons.  That can add up to a LOT of egg shells so all the more reason to start saving those shells now. 

Come late spring you will be ready to sprinkle them in the hole when you put out those plants after the last expected frost date.  You will be smug that you planned ahead so you will have enough eggshells to grow great vegetables and no more blossom end rot!