Dumping Grounds for the Earth

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Today, in honor of Earth Day, I want to tell you about a quick, easy, and free fertilizer for your garden. It's rich in nitrogen and nearly everyone has access to it. What am I talking about? Coffee.

I'm not suggesting you dump your precious ground coffee on your plants. What I'm suggesting is that after you brew, sprinkle a the brewed grounds on top of the soil. This creates a slow-release nitrogen for when you water your plants. It's easy, basically free, and reduces waste or need to purchase fertilizers, and it's all-natural... as long as your coffee is all natural.

It's important to me to buy organic coffee, since coffee beans are not only treated with pesticides, but fungicide is also applied. The benefits are still there if you don't have organic grounds, just steer clear of using grounds from flavored coffee. I'd hate for you to serve your family parsley that tastes like chocolate hazelnut.

Not a coffee drinker? Still want to reap the benefits of this fertilizer? Call your neighborhood Starbucks to find out if they offer the Grounds for Your Garden program. Starbucks has long been known to practice social responsibility, and according to their website "[They] introduced Grounds for Your Garden in 1995, which offers customers complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil."

Enjoy your Earth Day everyone! I'm off to the Fresh Market to buy produce, since they just posted that they will have some good organic sales for Earth Day on their Facebook!