Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:49 pm
In gardening, to fertilize the soil, we can always turn to a good home-made compost. We prepare it with organic matter and food waste that would otherwise have ended up in our garbage cans and green waste or dry brown waste (vegetable waste from grass clippings, dead leaves, branches, etc.) that we let decompose gently before applying it to our soil.
But this process takes time and space, two parameters that can discourage some. And on the other hand, we could do without chemical fertilizers that are not very ecological and bad for the planet… For all these reasons, we are going to show you that it is possible to make the garden soil richer simply with food scraps. Here are four examples of household food waste to recycle and use as natural fertilizer.
1) Banana peels
Credits: Flickr/David Goehring
This won’t surprise you, because we’ve already praised the merits of banana peels on several occasions, especially in the garden (for example to water a stale plant)! Their rapid decomposition and their contribution to the soil make them precious allies for the earth. In addition, you don’t have to do much: add them to the soil whole or cut them into small pieces and let them decompose in the soil, which will then be filled with nutrients: sulfur, magnesium, potassium, calcium… Plants can thus better develop their fruits and note that rosebushes particularly love it. As for the earthworms, they are crazy about these peelings! So it’s also perfect for vermicomposting. It’s one of the best food scraps to keep for your garden or vegetable garden.
2) Eggshells
You just made hard-boiled eggs and are about to throw away the shells? Stop everything and keep them! Remember a few years ago, when we told you about the possible recycling of this waste… For your garden, it is a great source of calcium that promotes good drainage of the soil and protects flowers and tomatoes from diseases. Using them is not complicated: they are rinsed well to avoid attracting pests and dried carefully in the sun. They are then ground to a powder before being added to the soil (you can use a mortar or a coffee grinder). And if you break them into larger pieces, you can scatter them on the soil around your plants to deter slugs and snails.
3) Coffee grounds
It will come as no surprise to you that coffee grounds or the contents of coffee pods can be used in many ways! Added to your humus, it doesn’t affect its pH (unless you add too much) and will bring a dose of the famous nitrogen that plants love so much to grow healthy and fast. In addition, it allows the soil to be better drained and aerated while maintaining a good hydration of the soil. Plants in search of acidity will love this addition to the soil as well as worms that love it and pests that hate it. You can also use it as a mulch, and rest assured, if it is a little moldy, it doesn’t matter! Even if it’s a little decomposed, you can use it in your green spaces.
4) Used tea bags
Tea… is not your cup of tea? Why not use it then? Tea leaves are indeed rich in carbohydrates which are a good fertilizer for plants (especially flowering ones) and it protects them from fungi. You can let them infuse in your watering cans and other buckets of water for watering. You can also open the tea bags after use and scatter the wet leaves around the plants to fertilize the soil and scare away rodents.
That’s it! Now you know how to use your food scraps in the garden more directly than through composting. Since your household waste is often biodegradable, it would have been a shame for this organic material to end up in the garbage (with all the bad smells that implies!). This allows for better recycling and smarter waste management. It is enough to do a quick sorting for a valorization of kitchen waste in order to make an improvised amendment for the fruits and vegetables growing in the vegetable garden and the flowers, shrubs and plants asking only the end of this waste!