ask at your local coffee house

[lottie dolly]

On our local radio station this morning,"gardeners question time",came up the tip about using coffee grinds {yes i know about already},but,what was suggested was,go to your local coffee house,and ask for their grinds,as they usually give you them,all bagged up,i just thought this might be of interest to those of you who do use them,would not hurt to ask,

[zazen999]

I get a bin bag full every time I'm at *bucks...they prefer to give you a bin bag full as they don't have to bag it into little bags for people.

It's great, I'm using one tomorrow to mulch my garlic moon trial bed.

[lottie dolly]

good,so everyone will be going for coffee out now lol,we got a starbucks litraly round the corner from us,i wonder if they only give to a paying customer,

[jackie j]

We have two Costa coffee places here.

[seasprout]

T#T of the month award.

And my local council, which appears to be the same as yours, has stated you need a waste handling licence before you take the grounds, if not you might be breaking the law.

I contacted them to ask for clarification, but never got a reply.

Stoopid.!

[lottie dolly]

we come under charnwood borough,as does the coffee house,who's stupid lol,and why,i know you supposed to have such a licence to move scrap,but,not heard of anyone been stoped yet from taking the odd trailer load,

[allotmentlady]

hmmm we have a local costa and starbucks, just wondering guys, what can i use the coffee for?

[NOG]

hmmm we have a local costa and starbucks, just wondering guys, what can i use the coffee for?

they make a great Mulch, Slugs hate them and they speed up composting. Worms also like them.

On the Licance to take them You would need a transfer licance...but they are just being asses.

[Rhona]

Yep - good for slugs. I think that roses like them too? I might have made that up - not sure. We don't need too much, so the grinds from Mr R's morning cappuccino is usually enough!

[pipscariad]

Local Coffee House??? Erm, methinks it's not something I'll find around here. But I might consider asking a friend who owns a cafe in St Davids, hadn't really thought about the possibility of using grounds that didn't originate at home! We drink lots of ground coffee anyway, so I do use all of that, although the slugs became immune to it last year - actually, there's probably now a special Pembrokeshire branch of Slugs Anonymous especially for caffeine addicts .

[Two_Sheds]

"It seems that caffeine will kill or deter slugs, depending on the strength of the brew. A 1-2% solution will kill them, and a 0.01% solution will repel them. Instant coffee is around 0.05%, with brewed coffee being stronger, so throwing a cup of coffee over the soil will not help, especially as it can also kill beneficial insects.

If coffee grounds are placed directly on the ground, they can go mouldy if not spread thinly enough, and is not the best way to get the caffeine into the slugs. Strong solutions can affect some plants, causing leaves to turn yellow or display brown stains."
lifted from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2876862

[SlugLobber]

I collect them from work. Seems nobody else wants them!

[Winged one]

I hadn't thought to ask direct at a well known American chain (see Zazen above) - I just get the smaller bags in the one I frequent (they don't seem to do it in most other ones locally though). But a bin bag full would be great!!

Apart from that, I have asked at a few other coffee shops (including the one I was very very regular in) and they don't bother and wouldn't even for me as it meant making sure it was only coffee and not other waste so too much hassle really. Shame.

But there are quite a lot of coffee grounds in my compost bin on the plot and they've helped bulk it up no end, as well as helping the slug protection at home.

[Winged one]

I should have added - I won't leave the basket of little bags empty unless there was only 1 bag, but if there's a good lot of bags, I'll take at least 2 and sometimes 3/4 with me. The staff give little smiles when they see me loaded up but are usually more than happy to see it go!!