pistachio shells

 I've been putting pistachio shells in my worm/compost bin with the
rest of the kitchen waste.  They don't break down quickly, but (unlike
avocado stones, for example), they aren't big enough to be a nuisance
in the output.

But I've used cocoa shell mulch in the past, and I'm wondering whether
pistachio shells might also be useful as mulch.  Any ideas?

Also, is the salt likely to be harmful?

 
They would be fine, but you must spend a fortune on pistachios!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

 On 2011-08-10, nmm1@cam.ac.uk wrote:


It's a very small garden, and I only need to mulch in pots.  (The area
under/around the pots is already mulched and stable.)



Thanks.

 wrote:


I have used pistachio shells for mulch. They seem to be OK. They turn
black after a few days - I don't know why. The ones I get are unsalted
so I can't answer on if it's harmful.

Steve

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You must get yours from your local international food hall?
My OH has her history from overseas and uses them when she cooks.
We buy them in 1kg packs along with other items, such as chillies which
loose work out at 2p each. Curry powder(varius kinds)often called garam by
the kilo and lasts us months for a bit over a quid. Try that at Asda. Even
english onions, the eye watering kind are a few pence per kilo.

We always put pist. shells in the compost and even though they appear hard,
I have never come across one while turning over the heap and over a year,
we must put thousands in. Never thought using as a mulch, but should I
think.

I find the salted ones yuk. But is it only the kernel with the salt? Does
the shell have large ammounts of salt? I don't know.

Baz