soil Oyster shells for soil amendment?

[shaggs2riches]

Just curious if anyone has every used oyster shells in their garden as an amendment. I was talking to a farmer that buys oyster shells from the agriculture store to feed his chickens. I was thinking that maybe a bag divided up in my gardens, might be helpful. I would till it in this fall, once I do my final harvest for the season. I was thinking of using it as a slow release calcium fertilizer.

 

[Voodoo 6]

It's all calcium, and gives the soil a bit more structure.

 

[shaggs2riches]

That was my thoughts. I'm going to give it a try and see how it works. There is a store in town that sells 25kg bags for feeding chickens. One bag should be more than enough for my garden.

 

[danish]

Have actually used it for a guy for this purpose, he farms vegetables. I can't say it's better for calcium than lime but he says it improves drainage.

 

[shaggs2riches]

The drainage part would be a plus too. My soil is pretty heavy and I am slowly working to change that. This might serve more than one purpose.

 

[shaggs2riches]

I bought myself a bag of the crushed oyster shells this afternoon. Going to mix it in when I prep my garden this fall!
 
 

 

[danish]

The drainage part would be a plus too. My soil is pretty heavy and I am slowly working to change that. This might serve more than one purpose.

 

Not going to tell you how to suck eggs but if drainage is an issue I know double digging works well on heavy soils. If you dump organic matter into the ditches it gets better, nothing too woody though.

 

[shaggs2riches]

I have never heard of double digging before. I will look into it and see if that can help with my situation.