Coffee Grounds

[cynthia_h]

Where are you in North Georgia? I lived in Atlanta for seven years while I was working (and working...) my way through college.

There's bound to be a restaurant nearby. Cultivate () a relationship with them. They may do bulk-brewing of coffee, whether in a Mr. Coffee or something similar, or even an espresso maching, so they'll generate more grounds in a day/three days/whatever period of time than you could.

Offer to give them a bucket (with lid) to put the grounds (and any tea bags) in. You will come every X days and give them a clean bucket. This system requires that you have two buckets with lids, but it may be worth it!

Good luck. I liked living in Atlanta...

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[JennyC]

Hi, Cynthia. That's a good idea with the restaurants. I'll give it a try, maybe with someplace that does a good business at breakfast.

We did recently escape from Atlanta (Roswell most recently). Now we're in the northwest corner of the state, rural. I don't have any particular problem with Atlanta in and of itself. I enjoyed it for a while, in fact -- when I lived in the city, not in the suburbs. I'd just reached a point in my life where I was done with living in cities, or anything resembling them.

[wolfie]

If you don't live near a coffee shop, how about a donut shop? They prolly have/make loads of coffee, perhaps a convenience store might also have grounds you can use?

[TheLorax]

Hey wolfie, The convenience store is a good idea. The problem I ran into was that they were tossing the coffee grounds out with their regular garbage and told me I was welcome to pick through their garbage before they tossed it. Ewwww yuck.

[JennyC]

Ew. Man, that's foul.

But asking at the convenience store is a good idea.

[ljcoolj]

My work place has plenty of coffee grounds every day, as well as the coffee/smoothie counter at the local YMCA.

[2cents]

lj,
I used very little UCG until last fall. I have added nearly a ton,
yes 2,000 lbs. Don't know exactly, I didn't weigh them. But added 5-20 gallons a week for 3-4 months and Still adding them, but not as often or as much. Mine are raised and semi-raised beds. Likely and inch to two incehs over the whole thing, all mixed in in different amount over time.
I have never had worms in the garden like this year, it is amazing and the main difference this year is the UCG.

Soon, I'll be starting to get more grounds again. I will be adding them to the compost pile, maybe I won't have to go back to Parky's Farm for manure. The grounds seem to work just as well as manure.

[Diane]

I doubt very much there's enough decaf in the mix to make a critical difference in the safe use of your compost.

It would take tractor trailer loads of the stuff to have any affect on your pH. Changing pH takes time even if you use some of the really "heavy hitters" to adjust it. Changing the colors of hydrangeas comes to mind.

It works. I used coffee grounds on my hydrangeas and they turned from a light purple/pink back to a darker purple. I did nothing else at that time to change the color.
I use mostly Folgers coffee.

[2cents]

Last winter was an experiment, how much coffee grounds are too much.
I put UCG directly into the garden...
Incorporating a half to one inch into the top 8 inches did not have a noticable affect.
But, other places in the garden had 2-3 inches and that brought growth to a halt. Didn't seem to kill plants, but prevented growth.
I had put way too much into the garden.
Those places were dug out and added to the compost pile for future use.
Supplementing the areas with excessive UCG with other compost and top soil helped bring the growth back.

[rainbowgardener]

Thanks for doing the experiment for us 2cents! Now we all know there is such a thing as too much coffee grounds!

I've never put any directly into the ground, just in my compost pile. For awhile I was bringing a bucket to work, and asking the people that made the coffee to put the grounds in the bucket, then bringing it home. I got tired of lugging the buckets back and forth and haven't done it for awhile, but maybe I will again in the spring to help wake the compost pile back up.

[2cents]

How to get free Used Coffee Grounds:

The local Starbucks, I started to stop and ask for grounds.

One SB sets the grounds out the back door in trash bags. There has to be several people interested, I've watched others picking them up.
They set them out 3 times a day, late morning(10:00ish), early afternoon(2:00ish), evening (7:00ish).

Another SB has a large metal bucket beside the front door. They place UCG in reused/refilled coffee bean bag with a large sticker to keep them closed. There seems to be no regular schedule to the bagging of UCG.

A local circle K gas station is happy to provide UCG, they have no one else picking them up, the ladies there appreciate the free tomatoes.

I started around November last year very few at first. By January I was picking up 10-20 gallons a week and some weeks even more. I stopped around May, because it was planting time.

I plan on starting up getting more soon. If I don't use them, a couple of my friends appreciate all I bring them.

[opabinia51]

I used to get my coffee grounds both from the University Cafeteria, and coffee shops as well as from an organic coffee shop in town that roasts it's own beans.

[gixxerific]

I have a Starbucks by me that offers grounds but I haven't gone yet. It's 15 min away, one of these day's (my truck is a gas hog).

But every morning I throw yesterday's coffee and filter out my back door into my garden. I have gotten pretty good at either hitting the garden in general or hitting the compost pile. I used to put them in a container with all my other compostables now I just give them a toss in the morning.

[rainbowgardener]

So your garden is littered with coffee filters?

I know they will break down after awhile, they do in my compost pile. But awhile is long enough that you will have several weeks worth of filters lying around.

Won't hurt anything, but it's not my garden esthetic... To each his own!

[applestar]

I have a sort of a reverse situation going on

I used to chuck apple and pear cores and even melon rinds and seeds out the back door for the squirrels. (The words "Apple Core! Who's your friend?" ringing in my head... ) Leftover toast used to be frisbeed out there, too. If my aim was good and the arm strong enough, I could get them into the shrubbery near the back fence, otherwise they fell somewhere in the lawn.

HOWEVER, since the groundHOG has been persistently coming into the garden, I stopped throwing these temptations out into the open and now SQUIRREL them away DEEP inside the compost pile.

[gixxerific]

So your garden is littered with coffee filters?

I know they will break down after awhile, they do in my compost pile. But awhile is long enough that you will have several weeks worth of filters lying around.

Won't hurt anything, but it's not my garden esthetic... To each his own!

Easy now. I pick up the filters after I get home from work. It' too dark and I'm in a hurry in the morning. They do go in my compost.