Coffee grounds

Fosterdog

coffeehound said:

@Fosterdog the earlier link says coffee kills worms 

Yeah that's just not true, look up any vermicomposting info and coffee grounds are highly recommended. A few worm "farmers" do experiments with different food and bedding and pure coffee grounds have been done by several and been successful. My own compost bin is swarming with worms that have moved in of their own accord and are free to leave at will, I sieved about 2 litres of my compost last week ready for planting seeds and that small amount had 74 worm cocoons that I found and my compost has a high coffee ground content.

Composting worms are different to earthworms so that could be the difference with how they react to the grounds, my worm bin only has composting worms but my main bins have earthworms too with no ill effects.

Zazen999

coffeehound said:

@Fosterdog the earlier link says coffee kills worms 

Coffee grounds don't have coffee in them, as they are what is left after extracting the coffee to drink. This whole 'coffee is bad for the garden' comes from one report where they didn't understand that coffee grounds are what is left after extracting the coffee to drink and tested unused coffee for their 'test'. I use them extensively, including in my wormeries and no mass worm deaths have occurred.

MalMonroe

You could always google to see what you can do with old coffee grounds but in the Guardian it says  -

"Invite worms -  If you work the grounds deeper into your soil, you’ll attract these little garden helpers."

So, not a worm killer then.

Zazen999

Coffee grounds are fantastic in the garden. I also use them to mulch my blueberries. 

Apodemus

coffeehound said:

I wonder if they burn well once they are dry?  There's oil in them, so they might be good as kindling

Edit: actually coffee beans quite often catch light in roasters so, yes, they should burn well.

Yes, that's what finally did for Karen in "Out of Africa"!  

coffeehound

Zazen999 said:
Coffee grounds don't have coffee in them, as they are what is left after extracting the coffee to drink. 

Well, shades of grey.  Fosterdog gets theirs from a cafe, so probably espresso pucks where the fine grounds will have been evenly extracted.  With coarse ground as we might use in a cafetiere at home, only the outer surface gets extracted during the steep, leaving intact the middle which is then free to leach out over time in the ground.  Plus we're only hopefully extracting a portion of the possible solubles, leaving behind the bitter compounds.  Anyway, multiple posters have said it's fine sp that's all right.

Apodemus said:
Yes, that's what finally did for Karen in "Out of Africa"!  

What a way to go!  Must read/see that.

Apodemus

coffeehound said:

What a way to go!  Must read/see that.

..."did for her" economically, rather than physically!

-taff

I used to pick up black bags of coffee spoil from costa[ not full, obviously, they'd be too heavy, but definitely half full] and throw that around the place, on the ground, in the compost. Haven't noticed any detrimental results. I did observe it was good for heavy clay soil though.

Now, if anyone can tell me what I can do with a huge bag of wood ash, I'd be grateful. That I've already applied to the beds and the compost and I have nowhere left to put it.

coffeehound

Apodemus said:
..."did for her" economically, rather than physically! 

 Well that's somewhat less dramatic

goldfinches

-taff said:

I used to pick up black bags of coffee spoil from costa[ not full, obviously, they'd be too heavy, but definitely half full] and throw that around the place, on the ground, in the compost. Haven't noticed any detrimental results. I did observe it was good for heavy clay soil though.

Now, if anyone can tell me what I can do with a huge bag of wood ash, I'd be grateful. That I've already applied to the beds and the compost and I have nowhere left to put it.

Make lye and then make soap! Other than that I've seen it being scattered to make a non-slip surface when the weather is icy so you could put it aside for that I suppose.