CAUTION - Free Compostable Coffee

I have just read that when plants are sprayed with chemicals, most of the absorbed chemical goes into the seeds.
So, if you're drinking non-organically grown coffee, guess what? And if you're composting with non-organically grown coffee, unless you already drank the agro-chemicals, you are adding them to your garden.
 
Now, amounts, etc, can be contested, but none the less....
 
Be very wary and very conscious about what you are putting in your garden, and choose organic.
And it's not necessarily more expensive. Starbucks brand coffee is negotiably cheaper than most organically grown brands.
 
Again, the best way to generate compost materials is to grow them yourself. There is much less effort this way, and you know the materials are clean. E.g. corn is a great source of carbon. Harvest your sweet or flour corn, and leave the stalks to go brown in the ground. This will exponentially increase the lignon content of the stalks, which is a key part of making good compost, thus soil structure.
 
You can learn more about growing your own compost from the book, "How To Grow More Vegetables."
Available at www.bountifulgardens.org.
 
Written by  www.growbiointensive.org

Happy Chemical-Free Gardening!

Paco Verin
Citywide Project Coordinator - Philadelphia Green
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
100 N. 20th St.
Philadelphia, PA  19103
215-988-8885
http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Honigman, Adam [mailto:Adam.Honigman@Bowne.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 5:21 PM
To: 'community_garden@mallorn.com'
Subject: [cg] Free Compostable Coffee Grounds from Starbucks

Friends,
 
I was just talking to a P-Patch community gardener from Seattle who says that his local Starbucks makes coffee grounds available in large quantities gratis to local gardeners at his local outlet. According to my buddy, "In Seattle, they have 5lb.bags ready to go at my local store every day.  The local gardeners keep the special wicker basket from overflowing, it is hard to get more than 2-3 bags at a time."
 
Now I don't often indulge myself in pricey cups of coffee, but I have to tell you, to get a cupon the run as good as I grind and brew at home is pretty tempting at times instead of the usual "mud in a cup."  Again, according to this guy, "They make a great mulch and green for hot compost."
 
Maybe it's worth stopping by your local Starbucks, buying a cup of coffee and telling the manager that you were just in Seattle and saw that a few of the stores there put bagged coffee grounds around for local gardeners....Say it's a Corporate Social Responsibility type thing, and they have to pay to have it carted away anyhow....
 
A thought for a snowy afternoon...
 
Adam Honigman

 

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