A common kitchen scrap that most of us would just throw away can actually have huge benefits in your garden – and it could even keep pests away from your plants
Your food scraps could hold the power to transform your garden.
Every time we prepare a meal, we throw away food scraps. Whether it’s egg shells or the seeds from inside a pepper, we’re regularly chucking scraps in the bin that we don’t want to put into our cooking. But did you know that some of these scraps could be repurposed and used in other areas of our lives, such as in our gardens?
It turns out that one of the most common food scraps that all of us throw away could be used to enrich our soil, give our plants a boost, and even help keep pests at bay. So, what might that scrap be? It’s the humble orange peel.
None of us eat the bitter peel of an orange, so whenever we tuck into the delicious citrus fruit, the peel usually goes straight into the bin. However, according to Sarah Lawson, a food storage expert at Storage Box Shop, our gardens could benefit from the unwanted parts of the fruit.
She said: “The versatility of orange peels extends far beyond the kitchen. By incorporating them into your garden practices, you not only contribute to a more sustainable and eco-friendly gardening approach but also unlock a host of benefits for your plants and soil.”
Among the benefits that orange peel can bring to your garden is the nutrients it can provide to soil and compost. Orange peels should not be added directly to soil because they can create an acidic environment that helpful bugs like worms can’t stand, but if you throw the peel into your compost, it can work wonders once it’s broken down.
Orange peel is rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus which are all needed to help plants thrive, so chopping your peel into small chunks and mixing it with your compost is a great way to ensure your plants are well-fed next year, the Daily Mail reports.
If you don’t have a compost heap, you can still give your plants a health boost using orange peels by soaking them in water for a few days to create a nutrient-rich “tea” that can be used to water your plants and give them a “vitamin boost that promotes overall health and vigour”.
The benefits don’t stop there either, as orange peels are also a natural pest repellent. The strong smell of citrus is unappealing to many garden pests including ants and aphids, and it’s even disliked by rodents. Scattering small pieces of peels around plants can help to keep pests at bay, but you should take care to replace them when they dry out, as they’ll lose their aroma and stop being effective.
And if you’re feeling up for more of a DIY challenge, you can even use orange peels as biodegradable plant pots for seedlings. You’ll need to be very careful when you peel your orange to ensure you keep an entire half in one piece, but you can then fill it with soil and place a seed inside.
Once the seedlings are ready to go outside, you can pop the orange peel planter directly into your garden soil, as this will decompose and enrich the soil around the new plant.
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