You may have noticed how I sprinkle eggshells onto my plants. I cook with eggs often, so I leave the shells out to dry in the sun and then crush them to make a wonderful natural fertilizer. Pure calcium to enrich your veggies! A layer of egg fragments also acts as a natural insulator for your plants-- when it's still a little chilly out, they help keep the heat in the soil.
I didn't actually do this one this year, but some people plant their seedlings directly into the eggshell and then transplant it into a pot that way. It works, but I must say I worry about the tiny roots exerting effort piercing the hardness of the shell when I would prefer they spend their energies making leaves and fruit. Realistically though this is an great idea and probably a great project to do with kids.
You can also tear up the biodegradeable carton and use it for drainage in the bottom of your pots as well as a way to save on dirt for plants whose roots are not so deep.
One of the difficulties of porch gardening is that there's no space for compost to create your own rich soil. I will often be mindful of compost items that don't get rotty and stinky, like onion skins, eggshells, coffee grinds, dry stems, etc. I crush them up and mix them into my soil regularly. In the beginning of the season, before you put soil into your pots like the picture above, you can throw compost right in (potato peels, pepper bits and whatnot) that might otherwise smell bad on top of the soil or in large quantities like a full sized compost.
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