Easter is coming with its sweet spring colors, the clear sky and the wish for picnics with family and friends.

Picnics are back big protagonists of these days of celebration, the desire of people to spend time outdoors, in parks and in contact with nature grows more and more. Whatever way your family is, cohabitant, wife, children, roommates, dogs, cats, husband, the best way to prepare delicious snacks to put in your beautiful vintage picnic basket is to take advantage of the great protagonists of these parties, the eggs! Easter cake, vegetable omelettes, hard-boiled eggs ... But what about all the shells? Don't throw them away, I recommend they are so precious!

What is often considered waste is actually a very precious and perfect element created by nature to preserve and grow life! Only in Italy does the food industry waste 84,500 tons each year. Those of hen, which are the main shells that are eliminated, consist of 93-97% of calcium carbonate, in addition to calcium, nitrogen and phosphoric acid. These nutrients make them the ideal choice to be used in plant care. How to use them? As a nutrient to enrich the earth, they are excellent fertilizers.

Keep them and place them on a tray, leave them to dry for a few hours and when they are completely dry, crush them until they are reduced to a smooth, thin powder and place them at the base of the plants.

The coarsely chopped shells are instead useful to create a real physical barrier that prevents the snails from passing, creating a barrier effect formed by the edges of the sharp shells.

And for an Easter gift?

Use the shells as small plant-holder jars, if you have children running around the house this can be an activity to do together to teach them the art of recycling and love for plants. Empty the shells and wash them well, when they are dry they can be colored with markers or watercolors and filled with earth and some seeds. In a few days you will see them sprout and you will be able to make delicate and delicious gifts to share with your loved ones, inserting the shells in wooden egg holders or recycling the same cardboard that you can decorate according to your creativity!

Happy Easter!

From GardenStuff!