In the winter I mostly compost mine, I collect them from work, I throw them in the pile even with the filters on. You could store them in your unheated garage, that would work fine.

I compost mine too, even over the summer. Here's a thought...go to The Gardener's Supply Co. http://www.gardeners.com/ and check out their indoor composting jugs. I have one and use it every day. I put in it coffee grounds, as well as any raw vegetable and fruit matter that needs to take a trip out to the compost bin. Then, about once a week, I will walk my composting material out to the bin. The jug comes with charcoal filters to keep the contents from smelling up your kitchen while it's in the house. There are some jugs that are especially pretty and will fit nearly everyone's kitchen. I have mine sitting on the counter and it really fits there. I will also put plastic grocery bag inside to help keep the inside of the jug clean, however, it is quite washable and I believe some of them are dishwasher safe.

This is just and idea.

Thanks, guys!!! :0) Phyl

I compost coffee grounds along with kitchen scraps in two outdoor bins, but this year we got way too much snow to bother making a path out there. Besides, when we get this much snow, the compost piles get buried in snow. So this winter I am using one of my empty storage bins lined with a leaf bag stored in the unheated mud room. I throw in the coffee grounds and kitchen scraps. I plan on working them all into the compost pile soon as things thaw out.

I'm having the same issue. I'm still getting Starbucks grounds when I can, because the competition is less in the winter and I've been storing them in my unheated garage. But something I read on the Compost forum made me think it was better to use them right away, so I took them outside to put in the bags of leaves that wouldn't fit into my compost bins. I don't think much composting goes on when it's below freezing outside, but maybe some happens during thaws, and the garage looks neater. I also have the problem of other compostables in the winter. I'm not anxious to plow through 10" of snow to dump them in the bin, so I store them in bags outside the house in a hidden area. The only problem with that is that when it thaws, the bag must smell, because there's sometimes a hole in it where some animal has tried to get in. During thaws, I dump everything I have into the bins.

opheliathornvt,

If your garage is like mine its very unlikly there will be a ton of breaking down, my compost freezes and I have a hard time getting it to dump out as it is. My compost bin is about 200 feet away from the house, I actually keep a path snowblown all winter, which allows me to keep adding plus its another path my wife and daughter can play on, its way too deep for them to play in the actual snow since its deeper than my daughter at the moment...

Silverkelt

You could put them on the snow in your rose beds. Although they won't look the greatest, they'll be where you want them and will settle into the beds as the snow melts.
Come spring you can work them into the soil as you clean up the beds.

I am throwing them in a compost bin with shredded newspapers. I started the pile around Dec. 1 and it has actually stayed warm down in the center. The top with the newer stuff is frozen, tho. It should all be cooking again in mid Feb. & be pretty decent to use by June.

Cheers,
Michelle

You all have great ideas, however, Karl, I had that exact same idea that you put out! Ok, that's what I think I'll probably do. :0) Phyl

I have actully put my extra bags of Starbucks grounds in an old freezer when I can't use them all up at once. The downside is that they have to be thawed out first in order to get them out of the bag, BUT the upside is no maggots from sitting in the bags too long outside.

Every winter my husband sets up a large wheeled garbage can in his heated shop, which is in our basement. We line it with double plastic liners and compost in it all winter. He adds sawdust from his wood shop and shredded paper from the den to all my kitchen scraps and coffee grounds, so we're composting in layers. There is never any odor and by April we wheel the whole thing out to the compost pile and dump it, shoveling on a few scoops of soil to really get it working. Within two weeks it's pretty well completely composted. This has been so much better than wading out through all the snow and cold every day to get to the compost pile. And I don't have to miss out on a winter's worth of good compost materials!

I'm with karl. When its time to brew a new pot, I grab the old filter and throw it out the door anywhere on my rosebeds. In the spring, I MAY throw out the filters.
Al

Thanks for adding, Sandy, Karen and Al. I am now starting to save my coffee again, and will add grounds every few days straight to the beds. :0) Phyl

freezing, now THERE is an idea!! I lament each time I throw coffee grounds in the garbage because everything is under lots of snow and frozen solid. My ex husband used to do alot of ice fishing and when he was gutting his catch at home I put all the heads in a bag in the freezer. When I planted out tomatoes I would put a still-frozen head in each planting hole and I didn't have to smell it.
Freezing coffee grounds: another way to prove myself an eccentric gardener. I love it. thanks.

triple b, I grab all the grounds I can everytime I am near a Starbucks - whether I happen to need them or not at the time. It seems when I DO need them, so does everyone else, and it's hard to get any at all. Since we don't get frozen winters, I have to freeze them, or the grounds end up with some pretty yuckky life forms in them. Of coarse, I don't have coffee grounds all the time. I only store them up when I'm getting ready to do fertilizing, etc.

I'm sure if someone looked in my freezer at those times, they'd wonder about my sanity.

Sandy

a little off topic here but too bizarre NOT to say: One of my highschool biology teachers (names have been withheld to protect the WIERD) would find road kill still more or less intact, scoop it up and freeze it for disections in class. All in the name of education. PS. She was a spinster.

To go back to your original question, a covered bucket in a cold garage is a good way to store them. I am impressed with all the other great ideas though!

Sandy - I know what you mean. My freezer has several bags of cut up pumpkins for feeding to my worm bins all year. There's hardly any space in there for the people food. :-)

Deanna

P.S. Phyl, I'm in the "put it on the garden now" camp. I have Starbucks grounds on my beds as we speak, and when we get rain and a warmer than normal day, boy, does my yard smell good! You'd never know there's horse manure under the Starbucks grounds! I'm sure my neighbors think I'm looneytunes.

I store my UCGs in large plastic garbage cans outside next to the compost pile. I've used them fresh, dry, wet, moldy, buggy. I haven't seen any problems. I am warmer than most of the zones that have responded to the original question. So is storing coffee grounds out of the cold a cold region thing?

Michelle