If you have a garden or are interested in composting, be sure to learn the most common kitchen scraps you can use in your garden!
Cooking inevitably leads to scraps, no matter how hard you’re trying to reduce waste. But instead of tossing those food scraps in the trash, why not find a better way to reuse them?
There are tons of amazing uses for kitchen scraps, but one of my favorites is to use kitchen scraps for the garden.
Whether you’re composting your kitchen scraps or using them to keep pests away, these 6 kitchen scraps are perfect for using in your garden.
Eggshells
One of the best kitchen scraps to use in the garden are egg shells. On top of being packed with nutrients that plants love, there are so many different ways you can use eggshells in your garden.
- When cracking your eggs, try to crack off just the tip. Then, use the shells as seed starting pods. Fill the eggshell with soil and plant a seed. When the seedling is ready to be transplanted, carefully crack the egg and plant the egg with shell in your garden.
- Eggshells can also be used to deter pests, like slugs and snails. Use a blender to crush the eggshells into fine powder, then sprinkle the powder around the base of your plants to keep those slimy pests away from your garden.
- Add calcium to your soil with crushed eggshells. Before planting your seedlings, add a little bit of crushed eggshell to the hole. Or work the crushed shells into the soil surrounding your plants to give your already-planted plants a boost.
Nut Shells
Instead of tossing the nutshells leftover from your afternoon snack, save them for use in the garden.
Nutshells are great for adding to your compost pile because they take longer than other food scraps to break down in to compost. And those nutshells also make great compost in your garden. A thick layer of shells can help keep weeds at bay and can help with soil aeration around your plants.
Orange Peel
Citrus is a great way to start your day, and the peels make a great addition to your garden. Citrus peels of any kind are great kitchen scraps for the garden.
- Orange peels are a great way to keep cats out of your garden. Simply scatter small pieces around the plants to keep the neighborhood cats away.
- Using orange peels in your garden also helps keep aphids and ants away from your plants. Use shredded or grated peels to eliminate bugs from the garden.
Banana Peels
After you take the peel of your banana, don’t toss it in the trash. Instead, use the peel to benefit the plants in your garden.
- Keep aphids out of your garden with banana peels by planting small pieces around your plants, an inch or two deep in the soil.
- Planting peels in your soil will also help add nutrients to the soil around your plant’s roots.
Coffee Grounds
Instead of tossing your coffee grounds after your morning coffee, keep them for your garden. You can use coffee grounds as a way to repel pests and fertilize your garden.
- Sprinkle used coffee grounds around the base of your plants to keep slugs and snails out of your garden.
- Used coffee grounds can also help deter small animals from digging in your garden. To keep cats, rabbits and squirrels from destroying your plants, use the grounds as mulch around your plants.
- For nitrogen-loving plants, work the used coffee grounds into the soil. Lettuce, corn, onions, and peppers love a nitrogen boost.
- Or create a nitrogen-rich tea by mixing the used grounds into water and spraying those plants to give them a little extra nitrogen.
Cooking Water
After you’re finished boiling your veggies for dinner, don’t dump the leftover water down the drain! Use it in the garden instead.
The water is packed with nutrients your plants will love! Allow the water to cool to room temperature, then pour the water over the soil at the base of your plants to fertilize them.
How to Use Kitchen Scraps in the Garden
With so many kitchen scraps that can benefit your garden, you may be wondering how to use those scraps. There are tons of great ways to make use of kitchen scraps in the garden.
In addition to the methods listed above, one of the most popular methods for discarded kitchen scraps is to compost them. There are two basic methods of composting:
- Bin composting
- Trench composting
Bin composting requires that you use a bin to hold all your compost. As you cook, simply save all your compostable scraps and transfer them to your compost bin. Over time, the food scraps will break down and turn into compost, which you can use in your garden to fertilize and feed your plants.
With trench composting, you bury your scraps right in the garden, allowing them to compost underground. To use this composting method in your garden, collect your kitchen scraps in a container with a lid. When the container is full, dig a trench in your garden between your rows and bury the craps in the trench. Over the course of a few weeks, the scraps will decompose and turn to compost for your garden.