Feed Your Grass & Garden with Coffee Grounds!

I'm a coffee lover & gardener.

I have a love for both that transcends time and Apple products.  I'm a slave to both...a happy, caffeinated slave.

                            

I feel like I just stumbled upon the holy grail!  I learned something new (to me) that blends two of my greatest joys in this world into one big, fat benefit! 

 

Coffee is a gardener's dream...

and a composter's best friend!

What makes coffee grounds so dreamy as a soil amendment is the amount of nutrients they contain and how they're absorbed.  In a study done on Starbucks coffee grounds, it was found that the grounds contained 2.28 % nitrogen, 0.06 % phosphorous and 0.6% potassium.  Magnesium and copper were also found in trace amounts.  Over time, the grounds act as a slow release fertilizer with some of the nutrients available immediately and some available over a period of time.  

Coffee grounds can be directly dug in around acid loving plants and for non acid loving plants...compost coffee grounds first, then dig in.

Coffee grounds make excellent lawn fertilizer!  Just rake it in every month or two.

They're also a natural slug repellent and they attract earth worms who love to eat them.  This leads to worm castings which is an incredible soil amendment!  To think I've been dumping my grounds in the trash all this time?!

On an olfactory note, fertilizing with coffee makes for a pleasant smelling yard, much more so than manure.

Yet another plus?  Cats don't like the smell of coffee...so if you have a cat that's using your beds as a litter box, scatter coffee grounds!

A wise gardener once told me that he never feeds his plants, he feeds his soil which in turn feed the plants.

This is the reward of composting, food for your soil.  

In addition to the great results your garden receives there's also great satisfaction in returning a portion of our garbage back into the earth. 

Where can you find more coffee grounds for all your  fertilizing and composting needs?  

Your local Starbucks bags their grounds and are happy to give them away FREE, just ask them.  Most local coffee shops are willing to save grounds too, although you may have to provide a bin for them to use.  Those of you who have coffee makers in the office, train your friends to save the grounds for you...this is an excellent trend, one less bag of garbage makes a difference!

Just do it!  You will thank yourself in the long run.  Not only does it do good things for your garden but it smells great too!

Rebecca