Comments on: Boiling Eggshells in Soup http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/ Respect Your Food. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:14:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Migraineur http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-81310 Migraineur Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:39:00 +0000 http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-81310 I have never tried it that way, but it would probably work. Maybe you could try digging them into the soil a little bit so no critters come by and carry them away! I have never tried it that way, but it would probably work. Maybe you could try digging them into the soil a little bit so no critters come by and carry them away!

]]> By: Scott Kustes http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-81263 Scott Kustes Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:48:20 +0000 http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-81263 No clue Rebecca. <a href="http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=455&bhcd2=1216813314" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Here's an article</a> that I found on adding eggshells to the holes you plant your tomatoes in. Hopefully Migraineur will chime in. Cheers Scott No clue Rebecca. Here’s an article that I found on adding eggshells to the holes you plant your tomatoes in. Hopefully Migraineur will chime in.

Cheers
Scott

]]> By: Rebecca http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-80589 Rebecca Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:36:18 +0000 http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-80589 What if I didn't compost the eggshells but just crushed them and put them around my tomato plants? What if I didn’t compost the eggshells but just crushed them and put them around my tomato plants?

]]> By: Migraineur http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-3399 Migraineur Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:59:30 +0000 http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/03/03/boiling-eggshells-in-soup/#comment-3399 My half-baked guess is that you could probably extract the calcium from the eggshells that way, but I'm not sure you'd want to. The neat thing about simmering bones in slightly acidic liquid is that you get *all* of the minerals that make up bone, and you get them in just about the right proportions. Adding the eggshell could unbalance that balance. Nutrition journalists focus on calcium to the detriment of the other minerals we need to be healthy. We're now starting to learn that it's not just the total amount of calcium, but the ratio of calcium to other nutrients, that makes for healthy bones. Too much calcium, and not enough magnesium, is bad. Now here's what you *should* do with eggshells - rinse them slightly, crush them up, and put them in your compost heap. Tomatoes, in particularly, love and need calcium; tomatoes grown in calcium-deficient soil get a condition called "cat face," which sounds cute but makes your tomatoes ugly and less nutritious. My half-baked guess is that you could probably extract the calcium from the eggshells that way, but I’m not sure you’d want to. The neat thing about simmering bones in slightly acidic liquid is that you get *all* of the minerals that make up bone, and you get them in just about the right proportions. Adding the eggshell could unbalance that balance.

Nutrition journalists focus on calcium to the detriment of the other minerals we need to be healthy. We’re now starting to learn that it’s not just the total amount of calcium, but the ratio of calcium to other nutrients, that makes for healthy bones. Too much calcium, and not enough magnesium, is bad.

Now here’s what you *should* do with eggshells - rinse them slightly, crush them up, and put them in your compost heap. Tomatoes, in particularly, love and need calcium; tomatoes grown in calcium-deficient soil get a condition called “cat face,” which sounds cute but makes your tomatoes ugly and less nutritious.

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