IT’S TIME TO START planning your summer garden. The clocks go forward this weekend as we “spring forward” into Spring!
Put those coffee grounds to use! Here are the how’s and why’s.
The grounds are considered by gardeners being a “green” material for compost and fertilizer. They contain nitrogen, a much needed nutrient for all green things and add acidity to the soil as well as plants and shrubs. And it provides a great recycling use of a by-product of our coffee drinking!
Coffee grounds can be used in the garden and farm:
- For a slow-release nitrogen, sprinkle the used grounds around plants before rain or watering.
- Add to compost piles to increase nitrogen balance. Even coffee filters and tea bags break down rapidly during composting.
- Dilute grounds with water for a gentle, fast-acting liquid fertilizer. Use about a 1/2 pound can of wet grounds in a five-gallon bucket of water and let sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature.
- Mix into soil for houseplants or new vegetable beds.
- To repel pests, circle the base of the plant with a coffee and eggshell barrier.
- For grassy areas, hand spread (wearing gloves) the used coffee/tea grounds all over the grass, especially the “dead” places, like you might when fertilizing with chemicals, but as evenly as possible and slightly heavier than with chemicals.
So give your plants a soil a boost and cut down on waste! Go green by going brown.
Tags: coffee grounds, compost, fertlizer
