Composting is a wonderful way to improve your garden soil naturally and organically, but what if you live in the city, or don’t have any space for a compost pile? Check out these 3 tips for building great soil, without building a compost pile.

Any organic gardener will probably tell you how important compost is for building great soil and growing a beautiful and productive organic garden. But not everyone has the space to build a big compost heap, and if you live in the city, you may face other issues such as smells and insect or animal problems that make it hard to compost.

Just because you can’t compost doesn’t mean you can’t add organic matter to your soil and grow a great garden, while reducing waste at the same time!

Try these simple tips for improving your garden with 3 common kitchen scraps you would normally throw away:

EGG SHELLS

• Rinse out any egg shells you have and allow them to dry for a few days in a bowl on a sunny window sill or by a radiator. When they are dry they crush very easily. This will help them to break down quickly when added to the soil.
• Crushed eggshells improve drainage and the addition of  the calcium is excellent for promoting plant growth and preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes and squash plants.
• They are also a good deterrent for slugs and snails….

COFFEE GROUNDS

• Coffee grounds can also be added directly to the soil. They act as a general fertiliser, adding organic matter, improving drainage, water retention and soil aeration. As they break down they will continue to add nitrogen which is so good for plant growth.
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• Coffee grounds also work very well as a mulch around plants….

BANANA SKINS 

• Adding banana skins is another excellent way to improve your garden soil….
• This will create plenty of organic matter resulting in a light, well drained soil which is full of lovely earthworms. Once the banana skins have broken down they will add a powerful cocktail of nutrients; calcium, magnesium, sulphur, phosphates, potassium and sodium, all of which help plants to grow well and develop their fruit.

See the full article at WholeFoodHome.com…