Use Bones to Make Fertilizer

Backgrounder

When you cook chicken or other meat, you often have bones left over.  You can use these bones to make good fertilizer for your garden.  It’s easy and doesn’t cost any money.  All you have to do is boil the bones in a pot of water, dry them, and crush them.

First collect the bones.  If the bones are big, you might want to break them into smaller pieces before boiling.  Put the bones in a pot, cover them with water, and boil them for at least 15 minutes, longer if necessary, so that you can easily remove meat or fat that’s still attached to them.

Then leave the bones out to dry in the sun for a few days.  Be sure they are out of the reach of dogs or other animals.  After they’re dry, crush them or pound them into a fine powder.  Some people use a mortar and pestle to do this.

You can then use the powdered bones for fertilizer.  It’s called bone meal fertilizer and it’s full of phosphorus and calcium and other plant foods that help your vegetables grow well. When you’re planting your garden, just sprinkle this homemade fertilizer in the bottom of the planting furrow before putting in the seeds.  Bone meal fertilizer you make before or after the gardening season can be stored in a dry place until the next season.  Or you can mix it into your compost pile.

It’s excellent fertilizer,  and it doesn’t cost you any money.