Great Gardening Ideas For Your Used Coffee Grounds.

James Kilkelly, was GPI.

Great Gardening Ideas For Your Used Coffee Grounds
By Jeanie Mailliard

We are big believers and followers of organic farming and gardening. But alongside that we also enjoy a cup of really GOOD coffee. This ends up in a pretty large pile of used coffee grounds from our plungers by the end of the week. We personally like plunger coffee better than the drip filter stuff. The eco-nature of the our lifestyle negates the use of electric percolators etc and the plunger lets us each control how strong we want the blend! This also leaves a really course ground coffee which we need to dispose of.

So what to do with the used grounds? Well we collect them all in a special bucket and transfer them up to our organic farm and garden. Luckily with the volume of farming and gardening done by Jeanie and Josefa, these grounds never go to waste!

Here are some tips for making great use of those otherwise wasted resources. (I wonder what Starbucks does with its daily tonnes of used grounds?)

. Coffee grounds, photo / pic / image.

Throw them directly in to your garden

Coffee grounds can be thrown directly into your gardens and vegetable beds as a side dressing for vegetables, roses and other plants. Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen, but be a bit careful not to overload one spot as they are also pretty acidic. Adding other brown material such as leaves and grass cutting to the mulch will help keep a more balanced pH.

Mixing coffee grounds in your compost

Coffee grounds act as a green material with carbon-nitrogen (C-N) ratio of 20-1. They make an excellent addition to your compost, along with other vegetable and salad kitchen waste.

Combined with other composting material such as leaves, straw and cut grass, coffee grounds generate heat and will speed up the composting process. Grounds should be no more than 25% of any one compost pile's content, otherwise the balance is wrong and the system doesn't work as well.

Using coffee grounds in a worm bin

Worms fed with coffee grounds combined with the normal composting materials will flourish! They grow faster and break down the materials faster. maybe it's all that good caffeine speeding them about!

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summerdays · Hazel Tree Joined: 13 May 2009 Posts: 14

That's a great post and something that I had no idea about, I think it's time to get friendly with my local cafe.
Thanks again

Lucyloo · Hazel Tree Joined: 18 Jan 2009 Posts: 49

summerdays · Hazel Tree Joined: 13 May 2009 Posts: 14

paddy mac fisto · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 10:58 am Post subject: Coffee Grounds uses

I've read that used coffee grounds spread out amongst your carrot seedlings can deter carrot root fly. I've put a big lunchbox in the canteen here in work and it's full after 3 days! it's all going straight onto my carrot bed.

Organicgrowingpains · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:12 am Post subject:

Hi GPI I was reading a blog lately where Starbucks had the waste coffee grounds bagged for taking away for gardening. The bag if I remember had the legend 'For your Garden'! I am not sure if it was the UK or Scotland I will try to locate it again. If this service is available there I am sure if the demand was here the same thing would be done.

paddy mac fisto · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

The Starbucks in Liffey Valley shopping centre, Lucan had used coffee grounds available to take away last year. Haven't been to a Starbucks in a long time though so don't know about this year.

Organicgrowingpains · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 12:05 pm Post subject:

I found the relevant blog, the bag says 'Grounds for your garden' link to it here
http://slowgrowinginscotland.blogspot.com/2009/04/free.html
The fact that there is a bag printed up for it would suggest that it is readily available at all Starbucks outlets

Cityblowin · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:28 am Post subject:

My local Insomnia offers used coffee grounds to take away. I must stock up next time I am there.

foxroxks · Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:38 pm Post subject:

Yeah all the starbucks still have them ......ive been getting them from them for about 2 yrs....my car always smells of coffee grinds. I think its a brilliant idea why waste them. I work for a company that has a starbucks in house & i think i'm the only person that actually asks for them. When i say i need them again they save them up for me & i end up with a sack full enough for my family plus .
starbucks normally have them in the silver buckets & they are happy for u just to walk in and take what u need also if the bucket is empty just ask because anytime i have they are more than happy to get some from back or the trays.