When I was a little girl, I recall walking up to my grandfather’s front door and the smell of coffee emanating from the garden. All along the path on a nearby stretch of dirt were little mounds of old coffee grounds he had tossed out from the daily brews of his small house front store.
I can’t remember if anything ever grew in that spot beside mold but it’s possible he was conditioning the soil and moving it elsewhere in his garden. At age 7 the only thing I cared about in grandpa’s garden was the little treasures of costume jewelry and marbles hid there for me to unearth. Now older I see that grandpa was unknowingly teaching me about a different kind of treasure that would lead to a bountiful garden.
Most people think dirt is just dirt but soil is actually much more complex, similar to our skin…it has PH levels, various layers and textures. And also like our skin, soil needs to be treated a certain way depending on the climate. For those of you eager beavers who really want to know the depth of ground you stand on, you can do your own evaluation by going to http://www.rain.org/global-garden/soil-types-and-testing.htm . This is much too complicated for me; I am still trying to figure out the PH of my skin! I suggest collecting a small jar of your soil to take to your local nursery where they provide testing at no charge. Some state universities also have agriculture programs that can help.
Let’s jump forward…you now have the scoop on your particular dirt, enter one more consideration…what you plan to plant in that dirt. Some plants love alkaline conditions while others thrive in acidic environments. Coffee is acidic therefore the grounds must make the soil acidic, right? Wrong…coffee grounds provide nitrogen and nutrients, minerals and trace elements to the soil as it breaks down but has very little to do with altering its PH balance (myths 101). In fact composting is a very popular and affordable avenue for go green (environmentally friendly and green thumb friendly) gardening. http://www.organicauthority.com/organic-gardening/organic-gardening/composting-the-organic-gardeners-secret-solution.html. I live in Nevada and I found that it is a good idea to have a composter because the materials do not break down fast enough…what I ended up with was an outdoor buffet for roaches, spiders, field mice and other little critters. But I had no trouble with coffee grounds; in fact, along with conditioning my soil they deterred the outdoor cats that had been using my garden as their port-a-potty.
So listen up gardeners, the next time you stop in for that expensive cup of specialty coffee, instead of an axe to ‘grind’ over the high cost, bring along a baggie for those grounds and bury it…the axe and the grounds!
I can’t remember if anything ever grew in that spot beside mold but it’s possible he was conditioning the soil and moving it elsewhere in his garden. At age 7 the only thing I cared about in grandpa’s garden was the little treasures of costume jewelry and marbles hid there for me to unearth. Now older I see that grandpa was unknowingly teaching me about a different kind of treasure that would lead to a bountiful garden.
Most people think dirt is just dirt but soil is actually much more complex, similar to our skin…it has PH levels, various layers and textures. And also like our skin, soil needs to be treated a certain way depending on the climate. For those of you eager beavers who really want to know the depth of ground you stand on, you can do your own evaluation by going to http://www.rain.org/global-garden/soil-types-and-testing.htm . This is much too complicated for me; I am still trying to figure out the PH of my skin! I suggest collecting a small jar of your soil to take to your local nursery where they provide testing at no charge. Some state universities also have agriculture programs that can help.
Let’s jump forward…you now have the scoop on your particular dirt, enter one more consideration…what you plan to plant in that dirt. Some plants love alkaline conditions while others thrive in acidic environments. Coffee is acidic therefore the grounds must make the soil acidic, right? Wrong…coffee grounds provide nitrogen and nutrients, minerals and trace elements to the soil as it breaks down but has very little to do with altering its PH balance (myths 101). In fact composting is a very popular and affordable avenue for go green (environmentally friendly and green thumb friendly) gardening. http://www.organicauthority.com/organic-gardening/organic-gardening/composting-the-organic-gardeners-secret-solution.html. I live in Nevada and I found that it is a good idea to have a composter because the materials do not break down fast enough…what I ended up with was an outdoor buffet for roaches, spiders, field mice and other little critters. But I had no trouble with coffee grounds; in fact, along with conditioning my soil they deterred the outdoor cats that had been using my garden as their port-a-potty.
So listen up gardeners, the next time you stop in for that expensive cup of specialty coffee, instead of an axe to ‘grind’ over the high cost, bring along a baggie for those grounds and bury it…the axe and the grounds!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment