I was watching a British show called, "How to become a Gardener" and they tried an experiment of various home-made slug deterrents with coffee being one of them. The slugs had no issue with bulldozing right over the coffee grounds. So I wouldn't put too much trust in the coffee grounds stopping them. In fact, nothing in the experiment really stopped them. Though, I was quick to note that their beer was placed in a saucer and not in a steep lipped jar or some other deep container to trap the slugs.

Last month I came into a completely new, unopened can of Folgers coffee. Since I only drink decaf, and since I am a composting whacko, I of course fed it to my worms. I opened up a pocket in my 45-gallon bin and dumped half of it in dry. I sprinkled the rest over the top of my 50-gallon flow-through, again dry. I made sure not to mix it in through out the entire bin, just in case it wanted to heat up. I figured the worms needed to be able to get away from it if it did. It never did. The worms were happily nestling away in the coffee within a couple of days, and the grounds simply absorbed the excess moisture from the rest of the bin. In addition, for the past month or so I've been adding about a gallon or so of used coffee grounds from the local cafe to my bins, and I just dump them in as-is. In six months of doing vermicomposting in this manner, I've gone from two pounds of worms to about 200 gallons worth of bins filled with worms. They're still multiplying like rabbits and I have yet to see a dead worm. One downside: after the Folgers addition, however, I did notice them getting really jittery, increased VC production, partying till all hours of the night, and demonstrating a distinct inability to follow my directions regarding the flow-through system. At this point, I'm considering putting them on a strict diet of chamomile tea.

Frankly that list of chemicals sounds more than gruesome to me!! Wading through all the colorants and preservatives I come up with a muffin made from flour, pumpkin, sugar, canola oil water and eggs with baking soda and baking powder with cinnamon and spices. Since I don't go to dunkin' donuts except for coffee now and then...I don't know what spices. I suspect that the trick lies in the streusel topping with a powdered sugar glaze on top. I would start with the recipe below...it has lots of oil so it should be moist....and top with streusel before baking and then drizzle with frosting. Good luck! PUMPKIN MUFFINS 3 1/3 c. flour 2 tsp. baking soda 3 c. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. ground ginger Mix dry ingredients and add: 1 c. oil 4 eggs 2/3 c. water 2 c. pumpkin Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Prepare muffin tins by greasing with vegetable oil or butter and sprinkling lightly with flour. Shake out excess. Fill muffin tins three-quarters full and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Frost with Orange Icing or Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cinnamom can be sprinkled on top the grounds before brewing... to your taste. About a quarter teaspoon per pot is my dose. Cardamon! Sprinkle a pinch over the coffee grounds before brewing. Cardamon is fairly expensive but a small jar last a long time for me... also sprinkle it on burgers and it gives nice scent to my bread. No mixing required. Make a flavor when you feel like it and straight coffee when you don't. I get flavor worn easy so I switch things up. : ) lyra