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Alternative Uses for Pistachio Shells?

 
Posts: 53
Location: Olympia, WA
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Ok, this is probably a stupid question...

I just bought a mess of pistachio's because the co-op near me in Olympia has a good price on them. I could eat pistachio's all day and never get sick of them, but I feel like the shells will take FOREVER to break down in my compost bin. My compost does well with most kitchen scraps, but I often have trouble with eggshells if I forget to hand crush them before they go on the pile. I'm thinking it doesn't stay hot enough with just kitchen scraps, so I constantly have eggshells and other hard materials taking a long time to break down. I'd love to start a humanure pile, which I'm sure would gobble up eggshells and pistachio shells and anything else I threw in there, but I'm currently renting and don't think I could talk my landlord into that. So, I'm stuck with about a half pound of pistachio shells, and I'm afraid they will probably last longer than I would if I throw them in the compost.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what I could do with them? I prefer something practical as I'm not the most artistic person in the world, but I'm open to anything.
 
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The first thing that comes to mind is grit for chickens if you run them through a mill. Not exactly a passive system though.
 
Posts: 165
Location: Slovakia
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Our dog has been chewing on the shells that fall on the floor...

Also, they are quite flammable, so can help in starting wood fires, though they need a bit of creativity to set them up to burn.
 
Posts: 55
Location: Maryland
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For fire starter, maybe roll them up into newspaper? I've heard of people using them for smoking foods. How about drainage in a flower pot? Would also be a good replacement if you're missing pieces from your monopoly game. Imagine the empire you could build with an endless supply of hotels.
 
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Kyle Williams wrote:Ok, this is probably a stupid question...

I just bought a mess of pistachio's because the co-op near me in Olympia has a good price on them. I could eat pistachio's all day and never get sick of them, but I feel like the shells will take FOREVER to break down in my compost bin. My compost does well with most kitchen scraps, but I often have trouble with eggshells if I forget to hand crush them before they go on the pile. I'm thinking it doesn't stay hot enough with just kitchen scraps, so I constantly have eggshells and other hard materials taking a long time to break down. I'd love to start a humanure pile, which I'm sure would gobble up eggshells and pistachio shells and anything else I threw in there, but I'm currently renting and don't think I could talk my landlord into that. So, I'm stuck with about a half pound of pistachio shells, and I'm afraid they will probably last longer than I would if I throw them in the compost.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what I could do with them? I prefer something practical as I'm not the most artistic person in the world, but I'm open to anything.



I really like using pistachio shells for mulching or in potting mixes. Have had no problems with them breaking down, though they take a little longer because of the high C ratio.
 
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Location: Chihuahua Desert
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wood gas!
hugelculture
mushroom substrate
 
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Posts: 3704
Location: woodland, washington
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this could be mildly useful.
 
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