This afternoon I unloaded a bag of coffee grounds into my garden and put the remainder in my compost pile. There were dozens of espresso pucks, which made me itch for a mocha. I thought to myself, “that was someone’s morning espresso yesterday, and now it’s feeding my vegetable starts.” Okay, the knowledgable gardeners might be thinking I’m acidifying my soil, but it wasn’t a ton of grounds. Just enough spread over a fairly wide area.
The unlikely gardening tip: Starbucks. Some locations in the Portland area are now bagging their grounds in the vacuum bags they receive the coffee beans in, putting a cute and instructional label on them to seal the bag, and placing them by the door for people to take home for their gardens. And yes, free; selling them would be ridiculous. I went back yesterday afternoon to collect another bag, and was told I had competition; someone typically grabs them regularly at that location almost before they’re even bagged.
And I thought competition was fierce for used vegetable oil at Asian restaurants. Now we’re competing for soil amendments? Wow. I guess the local gardening movement is really taking off. Get your starts and seeds planted now!
Building Sustainable Communities: Creating a New Collaborative Culture 