How to use egg shells

Convincing Reasons to Start Using Egg Shells In Your Garden

At HideAway Haven we use a lot of eggs when preparing delicious breakfasts for our guests. So what do we do with all the egg shells. Being environmentally aware we didn't want to just throw them away or put them all into the compost. 

Here are just some of our uses.

• We do have slugs and snails in our garden and we don't want to use chemicals to deter them. We sprinkle coarsely-crumbled baked eggshells (see note below why baked eggshells are safer) around the plants where the snails like to dine. The shells’ sharp edges deter snails and slugs by abrading the sensitive foot of any land mollusc that attempts to cross the barrier. Most snails and slugs quickly emigrate from our garden in search of easier pickings.

• The eggshells are also a great way for our birds to get extra calcium into their diets.

• While calcium is considered a secondary nutrient for plants, our garden certainly appreciates the added minerals, especially our tomatoes and peppers as these plants are the most easily affected by calcium-deficiency. We bake the eggshells and then grind them to a fine powder in the Thermomix.

Eggs are known carriers of salmonella, are not present in un-cracked eggs that have been well washed. If you want to store ground eggshells that are safe sterilize them in a 100°C oven for 30 minutes. You can then pulverize the dried eggshells using a mortar and pestle, Stored in an airtight container, crushed eggshells will probably last forever.

We keep our eggs shells and pop them in the oven when preheating for breakfast cooking.

It's been fun to watch who pops in for a visit or an extended stay!

Our Eco Friendly Award Winning Garden

At HideAway Haven we use Eco-friendly gardening practices. Practices that do not cause harm to the environment, including our beautiful wildlife. There are many benefits to eco-friendly gardening practices -- from improved water quality to an improved wildlife habitat. Creating an attractive, eco healthy garden takes a bit of patience and understanding, but is so rewarding.

There were several things to consider when selecting plants to create our garden. Our top priority was to use native species from our region. These are well-adapted to local growing conditions, which mean they will need fewer resources to maintain (water, fertiliser, etc.). Native plants also provide habitat for our native birds, insects, and other wildlife. The majority of our plants are from Ardess Nursery, who have an amazing selection of native shrubs and trees.

There are many plants (not native) that can help create an eco-friendly garden.

• Tough, resilient drought tolerant species with wildlife value, such as, dense evergreen shrubs, that make good nesting sites for many birds and berry-producing shrubs provide a food source for many types of wildlife.
• Planting a wide selection of flowering shrubs for a continuous bloom through the seasons ensures that there is always nectar available for our native pollinators.

Most environmentally-friendly landscapes do not have a traditional, manicured look. Keeping with the idea of mimicking a natural ecosystem, we allow our garden to be a little overgrown and disorderly -- nature rarely occurs in straight lines or looks as neat and clean as the average front yard. Eco-friendly landscapes have a different form of beauty, one that is much more aligned to natural landscapes. Dense shrubbery, piles of brush, rocks, logs and other quasi-natural features are all part of the overall design of our garden.

It's been fun to watch who pops in for a visit or even an extended stay!

HideAway Haven's Values

HideAway Haven's Business Values

OUR CORE VALUES ARE:

To give personalised, warm and consistently exceptional service-

We appreciate there are numerous choices and alternatives our guests have to choose from, and so we set the bar high for ourselves, to provide the highest quality services and products. We constantly challenge ourselves to update and improve. We create an environment where our guests feel this is their home away from home.

To value, respect and support each other-

We firmly believe that care comes from caring and so as hostesses we provide a level of care for our staff and business partners that inspires by example, generates trust, respect, confidence, with open and honest communication and appreciation. We are flexible, helping staff strike a healthy work and life balance.
We treat our staff, customers, partners and suppliers with mutual respect and sensitivity, recognising the importance of diversity. We respect all individuals and value their contributions

To create positive, memorable experiences for every guest-

We meet or exceed our customers' expectations before and during their stay with us. By delighting and satisfying our guests, we ensure the success of HideAway Haven and our team. By serving our customers with a highly personable, proficient, friendly, competent service, and listening to their needs we create special memories and experiences.

To care about and give back to our local community-

We recognise and appreciate our responsibility to be active participants in our local community. We believe in giving our time to community and service organisations. We believe that it is important to give something back and make a difference.
- We participate in ‘Relay for Life’ by walking in the early hours of the morning (only time the guests don’t need us as they are sleeping) and raising funds through donations from businesses we support during the year.
- Our social conscience package is ‘The Ultimate Remedy Is A Safe Haven - Pay it Forward’. We firmly believe in undertaking and giving to people who simply do not take time out for themselves because personal circumstances may prevent it. We desire to provide them with a safe haven; a moment in time for those experiencing life’s most difficult times to rest, to lift up, to reinvigorate and to provide much needed relief. HideAway Haven gifts a two night stay, working with other local businesses in our community who share our values of peace and harmony we organise an experience for these guests which create lifetime memories.
- We support the local economy by spending the majority of our annual purchasing locally such as; labour, goods and services. We source the best quality goods from local business-people who share our environmental focus - this helps keep the environmental footprint low

To implement and demonstrate environmental sustainability-

As luxury accommodation providers in Albany, HideAway Haven is in a unique position to influence our guests on energy efficiency and water use. By taking our own action to improve efficiency in these areas, HideAway Haven can demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and reduce our impact on the environment.
- Modelling best practice in environmental management.
- Ensuring our activities comply with relevant environmental laws and policies.
- Minimising our environmental foot print through sustainable management of resources including land, water, energy, materials, cultural heritage and biodiversity.