The Use Of Coffee Grounds In The Garden

Coffee grounds are a near ideal soil amendment. Although the NPK value of the grounds is relatively low (2.3-0.06-0.6), each cubic yard of coffee grounds contains 10.31 pounds of nitrogen which the soil microorganisms slowly release over time; as such, coffee grounds are an ideal slow release organic fertilizer. Coffee grounds also are rich in magnesium and copper essential trace elements that are necessary for vigorous plant growth. The carbon nitrogen ratio for coffee grounds is 20 to 1 which makes them an ideal food for composting earthworms and, with a pH of 6.2, a perfect organic fertilizer for acid loving plants like tomatoes and blue berries. Furthermore, each cubic yard of coffee grounds adds 442 pounds of organic material to a garden, thus, the grounds are a valuable source of humus. This is an especially important consideration for gardeners who do not have a ready supply of animal manure, earthworm castings or other type of organic material with which to enrich their garden soil. Most gardeners are well aware of the value of coffee grounds, especially if they garden the organic way; however, many of you may be questioning the practicality of incorporating large volumes of coffee grounds in your garden considering the high cost of Starbucks and Pete's coffee at the grocery store, which now sells for around $9.99 for a 12 ounce bag. You also may be questioning the relevance of this essay considering that most of us use instant forms of coffee at home and only resort to coffee made from expensive ground coffee beans on special occasions. However, at this point in time Americans are literally nuts about their coffee and are more than willing to pay big bucks for the pricy beverage when they go shopping or while commuting to work. As a result, there is a coffee shop in every food store and on nearly every street corner in the country. The entrepreneurs that manage these coffee shops invariably sell fresh brewed coffee and generate hundreds of pounds of coffee ground waste each and every day of the year. Guess what, disposing of this waste is a big problem for these people and they are more than happy to give it away. So, the next time you go to Safeway, stop by the coffee vendor and ask him if he has any used coffee grounds that he wants to get rid of, I know from personal experience that they invariably will. Most likely you will come home with a plastic sack containing 20 to 30 pounds of spent coffee grounds. All you have to do is carry it home and dump it in the garden. Happy gardening!