Coffee, and Expresso grounds in the food garden.

[Pete Judd]

Here in the PNW, (home of Starbucks), there is an Expresso stand on almost every corner. I live outside of a town of 2500 people, and there are 6 or more of them. I have a local restaurant that gives me a 5 gallon bucket of grounds and filters every other day, that I add to compost, but an expresso stand gave me 5-600 pounds a week ago, and I spread them around the food plot. As an experiment, I laid down a 1 inch thick layer of the grounds next to a row of Onions, they grew more than 4 inches of greens over the next row that did not get the grounds. The tomatoes that I spread them around look like the have been hit with a dose of grow juice. I expect to be able to get 60 or more pounds a week of the expresso grounds from here on out to help my soil. And no my veggies are not getting jerky from the cafene.

 

[TomSeller]

Do you detect a buzz coming from the onions and tomatoes? Do they stay awake growing 24 hrs a day?

 

[ferrari99]

I would say the response caused by the coffee grounds would be because of the nitrogen content they are approx. 2.2% nitrogen.

 

[Bird]

I'd always heard that coffee grounds were good for your garden and I used to dump our own coffee grounds in the garden, but never really knew why and certainly never had anything even close to the amount you're talking about.

 

[daugen]

boy, all those grounds I've thrown away by mistake...this is good info.
I already compost vegetable scraps but wasn't sure if coffee grinds qualify.
Well, now the daily load goes into the compost pile.
would be easier to just dump the filter in but do they really decompose in a year or so?

 

[ferrari99]

would be easier to just dump the filter in but do they really decompose in a year or so?

Does it really matter if they don't decompose in that time, they will just keep decomposing in the garden.

 

[wolftree]

I have used coffee grounds in my garden spots for several tears and can attest to the benefits. Filters do compost, though it takes awhile. You can easily cover the filters with grounds if desired.

 

[daugen]

I was thinking about snagging them in the tiller or just a messy appearance, like garbage vs natural.
likely overthinking this. I have a fifteen year old compost heap that is always nice to sink a shovel into when needed. I just wonder what it would be like pulling up
coffee filters in the shovel. Certainly easy enough to replant it.

 

[MikeFarm]

Hi all

Coffee grounds are also a molluscicide because of the caffeine content. This means that slugs and snails won't attack your plants as much as if they have to crawl across the coffee grounds.

PS. Spelling is Espresso even in the US

Mike

 

[Gary Fowler]

I keep a coffee can in the kitchen to put coffee grounds and egg shells in. When full, wife crushes everything up and puts that in her rose bed for natural calcium fortification. Not sure what the grounds do other than add a bit of organic material to the soil.