tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257330.post-89969804045243438562008-03-28T15:02:00.000-04:002008-03-28T15:02:00.000-04:002008-03-28T15:02:00.000-04:00I'm a little more anal retentive with my egg shells, I suppose. All year long the wifey and I rinse and collect them after meals until we fill an old soup container from chinese take-out. Then they are placed on a cookie sheet - or in the toaster oven - for 20 minutes on 220(F) to kill of any dormant salmonella.<BR/><BR/>When they come out they're crushed using our mortar & pestle and placed into an old coffee can. It takes us about a year to fill up the coffee can but come spring it serves two purposes.<BR/><BR/>First, in early spring when you first notice the birds starting to become active, place some of the crushed egg shells near a bird-feeder and watch them come pick at it. The crushed shells make for great gullet-gravel and the steady supply of the enriched form of calcium helps encourage them to build their nests nearby.<BR/><BR/>The other half of the coffee can gets deposited into the new season's first compost pile to be added to the various garden beds in the yard.<BR/><BR/>---<BR/>If you were just going to compost the egg shells I'm sure you could skip the steps of baking them off but it really does help them crush much more easier once they've been dried out anyways so it's up to you. Not all that much more work once you get into the routine of it.<BR/><BR/>The only problem I have now is my backyard is quickly becoming a aviary, lol.R. Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17783819499486558482noreply@blogger.com