Walking on Eggshells

My husband likes to have eggs for breakfast, so I had been putting the eggshells into the compost. I'll save my trials with composting for another post, and just say that when I spread out the "finished" compost this summer, there were a LOT of uncomposted eggshells in there. Some time ago I read that crushed eggshells sprinkled under hosta would deter slugs, the theory being that they wouldn't want to crawl over the sharp edges. Like using diatomaceous earth, but without the cost, and unlike DE, you wouldn't have to re-apply after each rainstorm. At that time I decided to save the shells in a coffee can under the sink. What I found then was that no matter how thoroughly I washed the shells, I ended up with a can that smelled like rotten egg every time I opened the lid. It became so unpleasant that I stopped the experiment.

I faced a dilemma. I still wanted to try the slug thing, but did not want to deal with "the stink under the sink" and the compost pile was not doing the trick. Brainstorm! I simply left the top off the coffee can, hoping that allowing the freshly deposited shells to dry out would eliminate the smell issue. It worked! It has been two months, including some fairly warm weather, and I have half a can of non-stinky eggshells under the sink. (I do wash the eggshells before depositing them in the can, mind you.) Next spring, I will follow the directions I read for slug control, crushing the shells into tiny pieces with a rolling pin and spreading them under the emerging hosta and other tender, slug-attracting perennials. I'll let you know how it works!