Gardeners urged to save apple peels and bury in soil immediately

If you’re not sure what to do with your , don’t throw it away. experts have revealed that it can actually be a superfood for your .

Not all of us enjoy eating apple peel. The skin tends to be tough and can have a flat taste compared to the sweet pulp of the fruit inside. Plus, many recipes like apple pie and apple chutney require apples to be peeled – leaving you left with a large pile of shredded fruit that you don’t want to eat. However, there’s no need to toss it away.

Troublingly, roughly 9.5 million tonnes of food gets wasted every year, according to a UK . Worse still, 70% of this comes from households, which means there’s always more we can do to cut back on how much we throw away.

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Luckily, much of our unwanted food can be put straight back into the garden. Many of the same nutrients that humans need to survive are also needed by plants.

In particular, apples are rich in nutrients like potassium, phosphorus and calcium. These are all crucial for plant growth and healthy cell development.

Even better, apple peel has a lower sugar content than the rest of the fruit. Since high amounts of sugar can be harmful to plants, this makes it ideal plant food.

Of course, most of us don’t want to litter our lawns with rotting apple peels. Not only does it look unsightly, it can attract vermin and other pests, who are likely to cause more harm than good to your plants.

Instead, it’s best to turn apple peel into a vitamin-rich tea. An expert from writes: “Turning your apple peels into fertilizer tea is one of the best ways to nourish your garden.”

They continue, “Since you brew it for multiple days, the fruit breaks down and releases potassium and calcium into the water. Then when you pour it over your plants, they get to immediately absorb the nutrients and use them to grow.”

How to make apple peel fertiliser tea

First you need to slice your peels into small pieces. Then place them into a mason jar or a lidded container. Although, be careful not to close the lid fully, as the apple peels may ferment.

House Digest advise that if you have peels from two fruits, fill the container with 500 millilitres of water. Meanwhile, for a smaller batch, you can mix one large apple's worth of peels with 250 millilitres of water.

You should then cover the jar and place it in a cool, shaded spot. After three to five days, the peels’ nutrients will have leeched into the water. Next, strain the apple from the solution. You can throw them into your compost to continue reusing them as a solid soil fertiliser.

Given that your liquid fertilizer is very nutrient-dense, you'll then need to dilute it with water. House Digest suggests following a one-to-one water to tea ratio, before pouring it into the soil around your plants.