Spread it, it will not hurt. I plan to hit Starbuck's for some grounds. God knows I buy enough coffee from them!
One year I even threw veges in a hole to sit for a while.

Carla

Of course, you can. (Insert red face here) I get so much of that designer coffee for Christmas that by mid March, knowing most of it is not to my taste and has lost its flavor in the cubbard overwinter, that I spread it in the beds. Worms love it. They are not choicy. They even like the Christmas Holly flavor. Tea leaves as well, if people give you those cute little gift boxes of tea that you know you will never use, worms love it.

You know Christmas designer coffee and tea are the new "Fruitcake" gift for those who feel compelled to give someone something, anything.

ah but the Christmas coffee packages are not nearly so multipurpose as Fruitcake. You see fruitcake can be used as a doorstop, curling stone, wheel-brake, and let's not forget catapult artillery.

LOL....you gals have been out of the sun too long!

Do the worms like decaf? Do you know if coffee is acidic or alcalide? Aaaaaand do you know which bananas are?

Do you put anything except for coffee or bananas straight into the ground rather than to compost them first?

SAmmy

Decaf is not really fully decaffienated, it's got about 50% less than regular. The acidity is the same so I doubt there's a huge difference in usefulness. I don't always compost the grounds and bananas and so far the roses are still live.

My worms aren't fussy. They eat anything - composted or not.

Sandy

Fruitcake also has the wonderful meaning of being loony, as in nutty as a fruitcake. people who see me throwing out my morning coffee grounds onto the front flower beds give me a sidelong glance; I'm sure fruitcake enters their mind. So here we have a convergence of the two terms.

FWIW, decaf has to have 97% of the caffeine removed in order to qualify as decaf.

Unbrewed grounds are more acidic than brewed grounds, so they can be preferable if you are trying to increase acidity.

Sandy, in that case it could be the possums who are finding the food before they make it to the worms. :)

SPILL THOSE BEANS!!!

just don't dump them on the roses you dislike.

I love fruitcake. Pity you can't pass yours on to me: I would be even more appreciative than the earthworms.

Melissa

They'll love the caffeine buzz.

Be careful - caffeine is toxic to slugs. ;)

I worry about what the junk really is that they use to flavor the coffee. Having said that, I still do like Patricia does and scatter my gift coffee through the beds.

Hey, now that we are learning that one of the salvia is the new marijuana, no telling what these worms have been doing when out of our sight. It's a sobering thought that we are supplying the caffeine.

it takes a village to raise a drug addicted worm.

Caffeine and pot, what a way to go! LOL, you guys are funny.

Carla

my motto is two pots a day keep my roses okay

Ooh, I used to make the most wonderful fruitcakes. If you leave out the citron, they taste really good. I would make them before the holidays, wrap in foil and put them in coolers in the garage. Every week or so, they would be unwrapped and doused with brandy, over and over. I made them in tiny loaves. I defy anyone to tell me they could be used as doorstops. They were the best!
Now I am low carb, and the days of drunken fruitcakes are over. You do have to watch out for them on freeways in California, though.
Kathy

All this talk about caffeine, pot and worms makes me wonder why I don't see them flying out of the dirt, doing the jitterbug while getting the "munchies" for bananas. Next thing you know, we'll hear "worm police" and their sirens riding in with a mantis SWAT team. And after they round them all up, and throw them under a rock, the worms will tunnel out with the help of their friends, The Ladybugs.

cuz you haven't had enough caffeine and POT yet, Hardin.

Good point, never thought about it that way. Will make more coffee so I can see it AND help the roses and worms.

atta boy.

We have established how good the coffee grounds and bananas are for the soil, but what else can you just put into the soil without putting it in a compost pile?

I have 4 apples that will not be good, and how about lettuce and tomatoes? Our soil is alkalide, and needs to be more acidic. I am putting in Mills Magic, and some purchased compost, but would like to know what else can go from the kitchen table or fridge to the soil.

Sammy

dry and crunch up empty egg shells. Spread them in a circle around the base of plants. Slugs will not cross them because they are sharp.

Milk. I rinse out emptied milk jugs and sour cream containers, and also dilute any remaining milk that has pasted its expiration date, and then pour it around the drip lines of my plants. You'd think it would inspire some little critter to dig, but it never has.

What a funny post!
I thought I was the only one with associative loosening.
My worms just say "maybe"....

I keep a bowl by the sink into which I put coffee grounds, egg shells, vegie and fruit peelings--whatever's on the menu. Then, while dinner's cooking, I take the bowl and my trowel out to the garden, dig a hole, and dump in the contents. My soil is solid clay. Just turning it over helps. I started doing this in the Southwest, where I had nothing but sand. It composts just as well in the ground as on the pile, saves me a trip to the far corner, and gives me a chance to say night-night to the garden.

How many cups per plant do you dump and does it matter if you spread it out towards the drip line or closer to the plant? And how often can I apply? I'm close to Starbucks, so I'm gonna make a run.
-terry

Is coffee just to acidify the soil or does it have other advantages?

Coffee grounds have a small amount of nitrogen, but they are usually used as soil amendments to help add organic materials which improve the condition and structure of the soil. Useful for everyone, but especially for those with clay soil. Not an acidifier.

I do the same thing as catsrose with everything but coffee grounds. I am building a bed in the back corner, so the peels and whatever get buried underneath the pine needle mulch on top. The grounds get dumped onto the roses by the front in the morning. Makes me happy to put the leftover peels and eggshells back into the ground. and coffee just makes me happy!

Brewed grounds are not an acidifier, but unbrewed grounds are.

This post is funny-----WE have a Starbucks very close to us it is a challenge to my DH to see how many bags he can collect---I know in the past year or so it is well over 100----He rides past on the way home from work and gets as many as he can----He just dumps them all over the garden---usually bags and all---LOL

I know the worms love it------

Florence

I have a random question. Tonight I was cleaning up the kitchen and dumping grounds in the trash when I started wondering if my body bag roses which are just now leafing out and still in pots might like them? I also have a couple of roses in nursery pots about to bud that are coming inside overnight. Just too cold to leave them out yet.

Could I put small amounts of grounds on these or should I wait until they are all planted?

Thank you.

Kate

Sure, you can add grounds as an amendment to your potted roses. You are better served to add the grounds to the
soil in the place where the roses will ultimately go, of
course. Don't just throw them away.

Another place to get coffee grounds is at work. You could also make people look at you funny, if you ask if you can have their leftover salads and such from their lunch. One lady I asked said, "Well, sweetie, if you are that hungry, I will buy you something to eat. You don't have to beg for leftovers." Well, my face was red. Where I work, we have a restaurant and they throw so much stuff away. I have happy gardens and jittery worms.