I have a friend who is offering to give me all the tiny shells that washed up on her beach during our flooding here in Wisconsin and I want to know if these would be ok in the garden.
Most are smaller than half the size of a dime and most are already broken but I'm curious if I should break them down further - if I should compost them first or just sprinkle all over the garden. Will they eventually break down and become part of the soil?
In short is this a good idea or a bad idea? Any suggestions?
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FruitAddict
- Cool Member
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:03 pm
- Location: Oshkosh Wisconsin
You take every little shell your pal will rake up addict!! Anything smaller than a dime will do just fine in your heaps and gardens just the way they are.... 
There is NO advantage to producing compost that goes through a 1/4 inch screen. If you wait that long you are losing to much good stuff and the worms have less interest as they have used most of the good stuff. I have Mussel, Clam, and oyster shells in my heaps and gardens and they break down very slowly for the most part they are still adding good stuff. At the very least they help with drainage.
PS.. If size is an issue I have pulverized shells in the past by cutting a hole in the lid of a five gallon bucket that will accomodate the handle of a 10 pound sledge. Fill the bucket up with your shells and pretend your churning butter.
ROCK ON Fruit Addict and what can you tell me about persimmons..JK
It's all good.
There is NO advantage to producing compost that goes through a 1/4 inch screen. If you wait that long you are losing to much good stuff and the worms have less interest as they have used most of the good stuff. I have Mussel, Clam, and oyster shells in my heaps and gardens and they break down very slowly for the most part they are still adding good stuff. At the very least they help with drainage.
PS.. If size is an issue I have pulverized shells in the past by cutting a hole in the lid of a five gallon bucket that will accomodate the handle of a 10 pound sledge. Fill the bucket up with your shells and pretend your churning butter.
ROCK ON Fruit Addict and what can you tell me about persimmons..JK
It's all good.
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smokensqueal
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 392
- Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:36 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO Metro area
I heard that my grandparents use to go to the creek and pick up clam shells and crush them up and plant them with their tomatoes. Good source of calcium and will help prevent BER. So take them crush them if you can and toss them in the garden compost or where ever. Nothing wrong with having a little extra calcium in the ground especially for tomatoes and peppers.