Top 6 kitchen wastes to use as fertilizer for your garden

 

Some waste degrades better than others. Here is the guide to properly composting your waste and having quality compost.

 

1 - Egg shells :

Eggshells are not made up of organic matter, as such. They are composed mainly of calcium carbonate. They can be put in the compost without any problem but it is advisable to crush them before depositing them there.

The shell of a chicken egg is made up of approximately 97% calcium carbonate crystals (CaCO3), proteins and minerals such as magnesium, potassium or iron.

Thanks to its richness in calcium, the eggshell is an excellent natural fertilizer. You can incorporate the crumbled eggshell directly into the bottom of your planting holes in the spring.

Did you know ? Egg cooking water can act as fertilizer! Indeed, eggshells are rich in calcium and other nutrients appreciated by our plants. Simply pour the egg cooking water (cold) at the foot of the plants.

2 –  Tea:

Brewed tea is a very high quality moist material for making compost. Indeed, even infused, the tea leaves retain minerals and amino acids that help enrich the compost: nitrogen, manganese, phosphoric acid... so many nutrients that will feed the buds and plants to come.

 

3 - Coffee grounds:

Major activating ingredient in compost, effective repellent against pests, fertilizer and natural fortifier for soil and plants, no longer consider coffee grounds as waste destined for the trash but rather as an asset.

It is then composed mainly of nitrogen but also of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and copper. These elements are beneficial to both soils and plants.

With the coffee grounds, you will therefore have a free and available fertilizer that will enrich your soil with the minerals and trace elements it needs. It will fertilize the soil by its slow degradation by gradually spreading its benefits.

Coffee is an excellent repellent, as is ash or sand. In your garden, place coffee grounds at the foot of plants infested with aphids or attacked by slugs. You can also mix water and coffee grounds and spray your plants with the mixture.

Be careful, all the same not to put too much, because in high doses, it can become a growth inhibitor: "too much coffee grounds, kills the coffee grounds"!

4 - Banana peels :

Beyond its ability to turn into a natural fertilizer for plants and ward off garden pests, banana peel can also serve as a strengthening elixir for seedlings. Indeed, it has the power to strengthen the seeds, which can then grow by feeding on all the nutrients present in the peels of the banana. All you have to do is dig a hole large enough to hold a banana peel, which you will then have to place so that the outer yellow side is facing the ground. Then, all you have to do is scatter the seeds over the banana peel before covering everything with a layer of soil.

5 - Wrapping papers:

Paper and cardboard used to wrap foodstuffs (such as egg cartons, for example) can be composted, but they are slow to decompose. They must therefore be cut into small pieces, moistened well and placed in thin layers in the compost. Newspapers should be avoided as many inks are toxic. Likewise, cellophane-lined wrapping paper should be put in the trash.

6 - Vegetable peelings:

Vegetable peelings are nutrient-rich organic materials highly valued by plants. In addition to brown waste, peelings are green waste that helps to balance a compost well. All vegetable peelings can be composted except for potato or pear peelings, which can carry diseases.