18 bags of used coffee grinds.

**jimmy cee** 1/27/2014, 9:05 am

I have 18 bags of coffee grinds picked up this week at my local coffee shop.
They stopped saving them for the gardener's, however I talked them into saving them for me
before starting up again.
I couldn't stand listening to them tell me they threw away 20+ bags because no one picked them up.
Twice a week I stop and get everything they have.
Going to save it, get manures, chips, veggies, etc and start an 18 day Berkley.
When these freezes are over...hopefully soon

**camprn** 1/27/2014, 9:18 am

SCORE

landarch 1/27/2014, 10:04 am

Very nice Jimmy...I fired up the lawn mower yesterday and took advantage of the warm weather to shred all the neighbor's leaves that blew into my yard (very windy lately)...turned them into my compost pile of coffee grounds, manure (horse, chicken, cow), kitchen scraps, and brewery grains...soaked everything down well with the hose to hydrate.

Checked the temp before work this morning and the pile dropped to 60-80...hopefully it will fire back up to 120-130 shortly and keep cookin.

I have about 25 Starbucks within driving distance...some are really good about saving coffee grounds. Some are not.

**sanderson** 1/27/2014, 2:49 pm

One of my Starbucks put a cute company sticker on the bags. It basically stated that the grounds were for our gardens as part of their Green policy. Wish I had taken a photo.

**llama momma** 1/27/2014, 3:28 pm

Sometimes mine come in a silver bag about 10 pounds like in the pic below.
Usually the grounds are put into very large double bagged trash liners. Wouldn't be surprised if those weighed 50-60 pounds or more because I need the workers to help me lift it into the van.

18 bags of used coffee grinds. Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSd3GG25dwwv6XVdm9_vmZK9bol0tBA4Jmc0B1oMkT6hbqt4EkI

https://www.google.com/search?q=grounds+for+gardeners+starbucks&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=h77mUqa_FqSW3AWWjYCIDw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=768#facrc=_&imgdii=2_Vebj4ZYbvbOM%3A%3BKL7CagSb0188EM%3B2_Vebj4ZYbvbOM%3A&imgrc=2_Vebj4ZYbvbOM%253A%3BIFmSKE2U5Doa3M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblog.greendeals.org%252Fgo-green%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F05%252F2013-05-07-10.16.51.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblog.greendeals.org%252Fgo-green%252Fstarbucks-coffee-giving-coffee-grounds-garden%252F%3B2560%3B1920

**sanderson** 1/27/2014, 3:45 pm

LM, That's it! Thanks for posting.

**llama momma** 1/27/2014, 3:59 pm

Your welcome, just helping out a little
18 bags of used coffee grinds. 3170584802

**kauairosina** 1/27/2014, 5:39 pm

In days past my grandson used to pick up buckets of coffee grounds from Kauai Coffee, our island coffee company. They are superior composting material. After he testified that big companies tell us what pesticides they are using they refused to let him have any more. We now gets small amounts from our Starbucks and other coffee companies.

PlantGeek 1/27/2014, 5:53 pm

Do the coffee grinds give the compost a little extra punch or do they just make great organic material for composting? What nutrients are they especially good for? Never heard of them being so highly coveted, but please share the secret. I too live within spitting distance of like 50 starbucks.

**kauairosina** 1/27/2014, 6:30 pm

They are very high in nitrogen and easy, easy to use being already granular.

**camprn** 1/27/2014, 7:27 pm

Worms LOVE coffee grounds. Make lots of worm casts. Great for the garden.

PlantGeek 1/28/2014, 11:18 am

I am going to begin calling around today. Anyone had any luck with Tim Horton's?

at2wooden 1/28/2014, 5:25 pm

The managers of the 2 dunkin' Donuts that I frequent have agreed to save the grounds for me. I drop off a 5 gal Home Depot bucket ($4 with lid) in the morning and pick it up full later in the day and drop off another empty bucket. Should be about 40 gallons of used coffee grounds each week for as long as it lasts. Man I have GOT to get me some red wiggles!

Marc Iverson 1/28/2014, 7:20 pm

Wow that is major, at2wooden. You'll be able to make some wonderful compost that way and/or keep many worms happy for a very long time.

**sanderson** 1/28/2014, 8:35 pm

at2wooden wrote:The managers of the 2 dunkin' Donuts that I frequent have agreed to save the grounds for me. I drop off a 5 gal Home Depot bucket ($4 with lid) in the morning and pick it up full later in the day and drop off another empty bucket. Should be about 40 gallons of used coffee grounds each week for as long as it lasts. Man I have GOT to get me some red wiggles!

Leaving them your bucket is a nice gesture. It probably makes the managers more agreeable to saving them for you.

**jimmy cee** 1/28/2014, 10:26 pm

at2wooden wrote:The managers of the 2 dunkin' Donuts that I frequent have agreed to save the grounds for me. I drop off a 5 gal Home Depot bucket ($4 with lid) in the morning and pick it up full later in the day and drop off another empty bucket. Should be about 40 gallons of used coffee grounds each week for as long as it lasts. Man I have GOT to get me some red wiggles!

You make it and they'll come

at2wooden 1/29/2014, 2:22 pm

Today was my first collection. Wow!!
Looks like this is working.
I put my name and phone number on the buckets too.
Makes it easier for me when I "collect" when there is someone who doesn't know me at the counter. I just give them the new (clean) one and collect 5 gallons of yum for my babies!
Make sure the lid is on tight to avoid a mess if you bring it home in your car.
You can get those plastic bucket lid openers on eBay for $10.

When you say "make it and they will come", did you mean worms?

**jimmy cee** 1/29/2014, 3:50 pm

WORMS....yes

MB3 2/9/2014, 11:04 pm

yeah, coffee grounds are awesome.
high in Nitrogen, and btw, don''t let people convince you they are too acidic most of the acid is leeched out in brewing process.
worms love them too, just don't go overboard in a small worming bin or they will mold before the worms can devour them.

**jimmy cee** 2/10/2014, 7:18 am

Have another ten 5 lb bags sitting frozen on my deck.
Added 4 bags a few days ago when I chopped up 5 boxes of veggies.
Soon as things thaw a bit, I'll be adding lots more stuff.

I love composting

**camprn** 2/10/2014, 8:16 am

Used coffee grounds also make good topdressing for perennial beds and under ornamental shrubs.

GWN 2/10/2014, 12:56 pm

This is a great thread, I have recently been reading everything I can find about coffee grounds and worm bins. I just wrote a long note, and the internet just went and it was lost....
SOOOOO In the past I have found that when I added a clump of coffee grounds to worm bin the worms went AWAY from the coffee grounds. Then I read people saying that they form into a large ball of worms in the grounds
What seems to be the difference is that the coffee grounds need to begin break down process before the worms LIKE them.
I have an expresso maker and dump my grounds in a bin with each coffee made, it takes about 2 weeks for the bin to fill.
At that time the grounds at the bottom have turned green/white, and the ones at the top are normal. What I am going to try is to give the worms the stuff from the bottom and put the stuff from the top in the compost. I am also going to try getting some grounds from coffee shops and letting them sit, a little moist…. until they start to break down.

I would be interested to know others experiences with adding coffee grounds to the worms.

**sanderson** 2/10/2014, 2:10 pm

camprn wrote:Used coffee grounds also make good topdressing for perennial beds and under ornamental shrubs.

Thanks for this use.

**sanderson** 2/10/2014, 2:14 pm

For all of you in the frozen areas you have one advantage. You can collect compost materials and store frozen outside. Coffee grounds, kitchen trimmings, manure. I have to put the bulk of the trimming, etc. in one of the leaf bins and they are breaking down in the stored browns.

**jimmy cee** 2/10/2014, 3:26 pm

sanderson wrote:For all of you in the frozen areas you have one advantage. You can collect compost materials and store frozen outside. Coffee grounds, kitchen trimmings, manure. I have to put the bulk of the trimming, etc. in one of the leaf bins and they are breaking down in the stored browns.

an advantage I'd happily give up

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