Dropped off some lunch to my resident microbes. Should last them a few weeks before they’re all gone. Curious to see how long these oysters gonna stick around.
Next time try pulverising the shells if you are able.
WorkingEquivalent223
Whole oyster shells have been known to stick around for years ✨
Mister_Green2021
Looking at fossils, the oysters should last 100 million years.
adorablefluffypaws
Looks like you are making a midden.
bsproutsy
Thise will last longer than you do
angus_the_red
I had some that lasted at least 7 years. I moved. They are probably still in that pile.
vulgarbandformations
Yeahhhh I use seashells to decorate my flowerbeds and they’ve lasted me for literal decades lol. I’m sorry but yours aren’t going to break down unless you pulverize them and even then idk
GarlicMafia
A few weeks? A few decades is more like it.
TogetherPlantyAndMe
…it’s gonna be a while. We know of entire ancient cultures and villages just from the stuff left over in oyster middens (piles of old oyster shells and other garbage).
I just listened to an audiobook about Ancient North American Civilizations and every other is chapter was like, “This location has shell middens dating from 700 BCE, which include ceramics and also the bones of marine mammals…” Like, a LOT of info about shell middens!
Dizzy-Garbage4066
Where I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, some people would pave their driveways with oyster shells.
It was called it “poor man’s gravel” since we really didn’t have gravel (or many rocks at all) in the region, and gravel wasn’t cheap!
The shells would bust up a bit, but honestly, they worked pretty well!
So yeah, I expect these will take a while to compost 😬
Laniidae_
Calcium is one of the strongest elements.
This is going to be there for at least 50 years lmao
13 Comments
Thats interesting
Id imagine the shells last a very long time
Next time try pulverising the shells if you are able.
Whole oyster shells have been known to stick around for years ✨
Looking at fossils, the oysters should last 100 million years.
Looks like you are making a midden.
Thise will last longer than you do
I had some that lasted at least 7 years. I moved. They are probably still in that pile.
Yeahhhh I use seashells to decorate my flowerbeds and they’ve lasted me for literal decades lol. I’m sorry but yours aren’t going to break down unless you pulverize them and even then idk
A few weeks? A few decades is more like it.
…it’s gonna be a while. We know of entire ancient cultures and villages just from the stuff left over in oyster middens (piles of old oyster shells and other garbage).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midden
I just listened to an audiobook about Ancient North American Civilizations and every other is chapter was like, “This location has shell middens dating from 700 BCE, which include ceramics and also the bones of marine mammals…” Like, a LOT of info about shell middens!
Where I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, some people would pave their driveways with oyster shells.
It was called it “poor man’s gravel” since we really didn’t have gravel (or many rocks at all) in the region, and gravel wasn’t cheap!
The shells would bust up a bit, but honestly, they worked pretty well!
So yeah, I expect these will take a while to compost 😬
Calcium is one of the strongest elements.
This is going to be there for at least 50 years lmao