COFFEE

I can’t imagine starting the day without coffee.  In fact, I walk straight to the coffee maker first thing every morning. It’s my favorite way to begin the day and I usually take my last cup outside to enjoy while making my morning gardening rounds.  This means that my first chance of the day to be eco-friendly is with coffee grounds, aka “kitchen scraps”.  I know a few people who flush this wonderful source of garden magic down the garbage disposal, or worse yet, they throw it away (gasp!).  While the debate rages on as to whether coffee is actually healthy or hazardous to us humans, those tiny grains are great to reuse around the house and garden.  

Reusable pods are easy and economical

1.     Add the used grounds, including the paper filter to your compost bin or pile, and let mother nature turn it into compost.

2.      Add to your worm (vermicomposting) bin.  Coffee grounds help worms digest their food.

3.      Scratch or dig used grounds into the soil around any plants that prefer acidic soil conditions such as blueberries, Azaleas and Rhododendrons. Coffee grounds contain many nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and iron. Yummy!

4.      Use as a mulch around plants that prefer acidic soil.  A coffee ground mulch will help to retain moisture, suppress weeds and deter crawling insects while leaching nutrients that your plants will appreciate.  It’s a win-win-win!!

5.       Use between stepping stones in a pathway garden. Large sources can be obtained from your local coffee house (be sure to bring some buckets).  The dark colored grounds look beautiful, suppress weeds, and smell fantastic.

6.      Coffee grounds repel slugs and snails.  Scatter a thick layer around your plants and you can fertilize and prevent damage without the use of chemical products. 

7.      Keep cats from using your garden as a potty by spreading coffee grounds around your plants.

8.      Ants hate coffee grounds.  Sprinkle used grounds on anthills, around your lawn, or anywhere you see ants forming.

9.      Sow carrot seeds mixed with dry coffee grounds when planting.  Coffee grounds make the small seeds easier to sow and some studies suggest that it may also help to repel root maggots. 

10.  Clean and exfoliate your hands after gardening.  My favorite garden soap and a pinch of used grounds is all that’s needed to remove a morning of caked on soil from wrists and hands, leaving my skin soft and smooth as a baby’s…

11.  Use on indoor plants.  A small amount scratched in to the soil surface can give your plants a bit of a boost. 

12.  Help Fido fight fleas.  Rub used and cooled coffee grounds in to your dogs coat after shampooing, then rinse off completely and let the fur dry.  The coffee grounds also help eliminate dog odors.  Be careful that your dog doesn't lick or consume any grounds.  Coffee can be toxic to dogs. 

13.  Use as an air freshener.  Set out a small bowl on your counter or in your refrigerator.  

14.  Use as a scrub (with soap) after handling smelly items such as garlic and fish, to get rid of the unwanted smell.  While your hands may end up smelling a little like coffee, it’s a whole lot better than smelling a lot like fish.  

Keep the used grounds nearby and you'll 

find ample opportunities to reuse them 

15.  Use to scour pots, pans and baked on dishes.

16.  Use as a natural dye on fabrics. 

17.  Use as a natural hair dye or rinse.  If your color is coffee brown, you are definitely in luck. 

18.  Use coffee grounds (fresh or used) to tenderize meat.  Add to your favorite steak rub and allow the meat to marinate for a bit before cooking.  Your steak will be flavorful on the outside with a slight coffee taste and tender on the inside.  I know eating coffee grounds sounds unusual, but trust me, the flavor is amazing!

19.  Use as a natural stain on dark woods.  Add a small amount of vinegar to used grounds.  Let this sit for a day or two before using on wood.  You may need more than one application. 

20.  Before cleaning the ashes out of the fireplace, sprinkle them with damp grounds.  The ashes will be easier to remove and you won’t stir up as much dust. 

21.  Add the grounds to your curbside green bin and let them go to your local composting facility. 

By the way, if you don’t drink the last bit of coffee in the pot, don’t dump it down the drain-pour it on your plants!  Your blueberries (or Rhododendrons) will enjoy it as much as you did.

DID YOU KNOW???
2.25 BILLION PEOPLE (64%) DRINK COFFEE DAILY. 
Being eco-friendly starts early.  How are you going to reuse your coffee grounds?
Be well and happy gardening!

Balcony Worm Bin

I garden in every nook and cranny of my yard so it makes sense that I compost in every nook and cranny of my yard.  You never have to walk far to find a bin ready to work it's magic on the leaves, clippings and other "compostable" materials that accumulate each day while I walk through the garden.  Well, never too far except for my 60 square foot balcony garden.  While I was busy throwing my garden "trash" over the balcony I was missing an opportunity for another composting bin.  Well, not a bin exactly but vermicomposting aka worm composting.  If you're already vermicomposting you know how wonderful worm castings are for your garden.  Some say it's one of the best fertilizers you can give your plants.  You can purchase a worm bin from any of the larger garden stores.

 

They work very well and look fine but they can be pricey.  I knew I could make one for our balcony garden that worked just as well for a fraction of the price.

 
My only purchase was 2-30" deep tubs.  I choose a "non-clear" container because I've heard it said that worms like it dark.  Everything else was laying around, waiting to be reused, or, as was the case with the worms, hoping to be relocated.  I used 4 bricks, shredded newspaper, kitchen waste (watermelon and avocados are a real worm favorite) and a big scoop of worms from my overcrowded bin.  A drill makes this job go really quickly but a hammer and nail could get the job done in a pinch.

 

Drill holes around the top 2 inches of one of your tubs. 

 

                                
                                      Drill holes in the bottom of the same tub for drainage.

                             Place 4 bricks in the bottom of your "non drilled" tub.

Shred newspaper.  Moisten your paper before adding it to the worm bin by soaking it for a few minutes in a 5 gallon bucket.

Add the shredded newspaper to the bin  Add your worms and kitchen scraps.  Be sure to add some soil, coffee grounds or crushed eggshells.  Worms (like chickens) don't have gizzards and adding these materials will aid with digestion.

Top with a bit more paper, cover with the lid from one of the bins and let the little guys do what they do. 
Be sure to feed your worms regularly.  1 pound of worms can eat 1/2 pounds of kitchen scraps a day.  Bury the kitchen scraps under the bedding to minimize fruit flies and don't let the bedding dry out. 
I spent less than $14.00 for the 2 tubs-much less than the cost of buying a bin.  Everything else was here for the taking.  If I had to buy worms it would have added to the cost.  For those who don't have an overcrowded bin, worms can be purchased easily through many internet sites. 
Don't let a lack of space keep you from composting.  Turn your waste into castings!
Be well and happy gardening!

Coffee Klatch

If you're anything like me you start your morning with a cup (or a pot) of coffee.  It's my favorite way to begin the day and I usually take my last cup outside to enjoy while making my morning gardening rounds.  This means the first "kitchen scraps" of the day are coffee grounds.  I know a few people who flush this wonderful source of garden magic down the garbage disposal, or worse yet, they throw it away (gasp!).  Used coffee grounds are one of the easiest items to reuse in your garden.

1. Add to your compost pile.  Just throw them in, filter and all.
2. Add to your vermicomposting bin.  Woms have a gizzard (just like chickens) and coffee grounds  help them digest food. 
3. Use them to fertilize acidic-loving plants such as Azaleas, Rhododendrons, evergrees, and blueberries (to name a few). 
4. Coffee grounds are said to repel slugs and snails.  Scatter around your plants and you can fertilize and prevent damage at the same time and without the use of chemical products.
5. Keep your cats from using your garden as a potty by spreading coffee grounds and crushed orange peels around your plants. 
6.  Ants hate coffee grounds.  Sprinkle coffee grounds on anthills, around your lawn, and anywhere you see ants forming. 
7.  Mixing your carrot seeds with dry coffee grounds before planting makes the small seeds easier to sow.  Some studies suggest that it may also help to repel root maggots. 
8.  Use on indoor plants.  A small amount scratched in to the soil surface can give your plants a bit of bloost.
9.  Coffee grounds make a great mulch for your summer vegetable garden.  It's high in nitrogen, making it a wonderful fertilizer for heavy feeders and fast growing vegetables.  It also provides phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and copper.
10.  Coffee grounds work well as a mulch between pathway pavers.  The grounds look beautiful while suppressing weeds and smelling fantastic.

By the way, if you don't drink the last bit of coffee in the pot, don't dump it down the drain-pour it on your plants!   Your blueberries (or Rhododendrons) will enjoy it as much as you did.
Be well and happy gardening!

Feeding Plants with Fountain Water

After a prolonged pause from blogging (but not from frugal gardening) I am finally able to sit down and add a post to frugalgardengirl.  In case your wondering about the lengthly holiday I am proud to announce that I became a grandma in August.  This pretty baby girl is my granddaughter Ayumi. 

When she's visiting I don't get as much done around the house, or in the garden for that matter but I'm pretty sure that the time we spend together is the most important thing that I could be doing.
Cleaning our patio fountain is a chore that needs to be done frequently, especially in the summer months when the warm weather causes the algae and fish poop to turn the pond green. 

Rather than waste this nutrient rich water, I prefer to use it as the a source of liquid fertilizer.
It's easy to use a hose to drain larger ponds and fountains.  I place the end of the hose in the fountain and turn the hose on at the spiget for a few seconds.  After turning off the water, I detach the hose at the spiget, holding the end up until I reach a spot that I want watered.  Then I lay the hose down and gravity does what it does, pulling water out of the fountain and over to my garden.

The water left at the bottom of the pond is emptied bucket by bucket to the potted plants surrounding our patio.  It sounds tedius, and it can be, but it's good exercise for my husband and I.

If you have an aquarium, or your kids have a fish tank, don't waste this wonderful source of food for your garden.
Just to be on the safe side, I don't use this water for leafy greens or root crops.  I do use it on fruit trees, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and many other bush and vine plants and haven't had any problems.
Any time that I can get a chore to do double duty-in this case cleaning the fountain mixed with watering and fertilizing the plants, I know I've done a great job.
Be well and happy gardening!

Recycled Compost Sifter

Readers of my blog know I'm crazy about composting.  It's the ultimate trash to treasure, taking browns and greens and turning it into black gold.  I'm always making compost and eagerly look forward to the finished product.  When the contents of the bin have decomposed to 1/3 of it's original size, and I can no longer identify the materials I added, it's time to sift my compost.
There are some wonderful compost sifters out there.  Most garden catalogs carry them and I've seen homemade ones that look like they work very well.  I have an easier way to sift my compost.  Nursery garden flats! The flats are lightweight, have different sized holes to choose from, and can still be used to tote your nursery packs from spot to spot when not used as a sifter.

 

Stack 3 or 4 flats together, placing the smallest desired hole size on top.  I sift over buckets, an empty trash can, or a wheel barrow.  Don't forget to use an old shower curtain under everything to make clean up easier.

The finished compost can be used as a growing medium, soil amendment, or fertilizer.

I resift the left over (larger) pieces using flats with larger holes.

I use this as mulch around fruit trees and other plants.

The largest pieces go into the current compost bin, topping off recently added kitchen scraps and adding worms and decomposing microbes to the pile. 

 Be well and happy gardening!

When Life Gives You Banana's Make Bread-And Fertilizer

My local store sells overly ripe banana's for a dime each.  I can't pass them by.  I make some great banana bread (just ask my family and neighbors) and you gotta have ripe ones for the best bread.  I usually buy all they have, freezing the peeled fruit until I'm ready to bake.

Enough for 2 batches

The peels could easily be composted, but I prefer to use them as fertilizer for my roses.

Banana peels are a good source of potassium and also supply a bit of phosphorus.  They have an NPK of 0-3-42.

My favorite way to use the peel is to cut it into small pieces and freeze it before using.

The freezing changes the cell structure of the peels and as they thaw they break down more quickly in the garden.

When the peels are frozen, dig a couple of holes around your rose bush and bury about a cup of peels in each one.  Cover with soil to keep rodents from digging them up. 

Some google searching found other (interesting) ways to use banana peels.
1. When transplanting roses, place a banana peel (and some say a tea bag) at the bottom of the hole.
2. Put peels in a 350 degree oven and bake until crisp, than bury next to your rose bushes.
3. Freeze and put through a food processor than bury around your plants
4. Make banana-peel tonic. Cut the peels of a banana into a spray bottle and cover with warm water. Put the lid back on the bottle and leave for 2 weeks. The peels will ferment. Spray the rose bushes with this liquid.
I plan to give these other methods a try, and would love to hear from readers who use banana peels around their plants.
Be well and happy gardening.

Expired supplements provide garden nutrients

Expired calcium and herbal supplements (not vitamins) don't need to be thrown out.

Bury a few expired calcium tablets or capsules around tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.  The additional calcium may help prevent blossom end rot.

Herbal supplements can be added to your compost bin where they will break down along with the other organic materials.

Remember to save the bottles and reuse when harvesting seeds as seed storage containers.

Waste not, want not.
Be well and happy gardening!