So last year was my first year trying to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables at home, some bits grew well and others not so. In particular, the strawberries did OK (but not fantastic) so the few fruits they did produce were quickly pounced upon by slugs. The lettuce did very well, but so did the slugs. I tried a few methods to deter them but eventually they won. Which leads me to my potential solution this year…
Another hobby of mine allows me (when the weather/sea state allows) to collect a good number of scallops. Yesterday I collected my bag limit of 25 and as always left wondering what to do the the shells (typically I freeze them in a big bag and return them to the sea on my next outing). However this time I thought I should have a go at crushing them in the garden shredder and then spreading them around my veg patch to form a barrier.
I understand this is quite a common use for crushed sea shells, but I was quite pleased I've found (possibly) another use for the waste that would otherwise be returned to the sea.
Fingers crossed it works!
by 5elenium
8 Comments
Which coast are you on? I’m a fkn sucker for seafood and foraging but I’m as inland as it gets
Does crushing them help prevent slugs? Or does it add nutrients into the soil? Very interesting!
Good idea but I find when I spread fish, blood and bone about I get cats digging looking for food so I’d watch out for that if they still smell fishy.
Yes there is also a company that sells crushed sea shells as a kind of gravel / soil topper: Shell on Earth. Could be worth a try!
Where can I buy a scallop- producing strawbetry plant then?
Did you soak them and rinse them in fresh water or just leave the salt on?
wow howd you get the scallops. Delicious treat
shells are almost entirely calcium carbonate pretty sure. Basically like adding chalk to it. Check the soil ph. If its below 6 and you arent growing ericacious the calcium will be good. Above 7 and no point really
You could make a rockery with them 🤣 Pile them up, mix with a bit of clay and soil and seed it with alpines