AKA The Eggshell Lady??

Well, a little background here -- I have four outdoor compost bins.  I have two in the backyard, and two over at my community garden plots. I have been working very diligently to produce the fastest and most nutritious compost that I can to use in my garden this spring and summer.  This has involved runs to various Starbucks to get LOTS of coffee grounds (high nitrogen which heats up the pile, and the worms love them), shredding tons of bags of leaves from my neighbors, and last week - a trip to our local microbrewery to get spent grains (again, high nitrogen which heats up the pile).  This has also brought me a great deal of teasing by my family!

Yes, that is STEAM that you see in my compost.  And, yes, it was only 18 degrees out today when I took the picture. 

So, I was thinking last week about how much wasted food, etc., goes so unnecessarily into our landfills.  My girlfriends and I often have breakfast at a local deli.  So, last night when they did their weekend prep for omelettes, pancakes, and waffles, they saved their eggshells for my compost bins (they go through about 30 cases of eggs per week).  Eggshells are an excellent source of calcium for compost (which then feeds my plants).  And, worms love them!

 After I brought the eggshells home (and closed up the bag after taking this picture), I stepped all over the bag to crush them really well.  They are now distributed throughout my two backyard composts bins. 

When I picked up the eggshells this morning, the owner acknowledged me as I was speaking to an employee, lifting his hand, and saying, "Ah, the eggshell lady"!  Hmm, it makes me wonder what other names I may have been given by employees of those other businesses!