Look up some information on 'sheet composting', that's essentially what you're doing. I do the same thing.

The only suggestion I would make, and this is just a comment in line with my own philosophy, is look into reusable coffee filters and don't buy those paper ones at all lol. There are many different shapes and types. I use a french press myself, so no filters necessary. And yep, coffee grounds go right into the garden.

Small sticks won't really hurt, but they take longer to break down, and can cause a temporary 'tie-up' of nitrogen. If you are putting just a few in, it probably won't be a problem, but a lot can cause some difficulties. If you can, keep the sticks on top of the soil. They only tie up nitrogen they are in direct contact with. On top of the soil they are fine. Besides, they give back the N as they decompose. Break them up as small as you can and they will breakdown faster.

Oh... if you do decide to stick with the paper (don't do it lol) they're fine in the garden.

rgreen48,

Thanks for your insight. Much appreciated! I'm going to Google "sheet composting" as you suggested, but what are your thoughts on the veggies? Do you do that as well?

Lots of people do that and that's why there are names for it. Sheet composting is just spreading compostables on the surface like a mulch. If you have critters you can bury your food waste in a shallow trench, i.e. trench composting. Either way, it turns out that may be more beneficial than composting in a bin because the decomposition process itself is good for soil fertility. Also if stuff is buried you don't lose as much nitrogen in the process.

Here's a recent picture from a bed with peppers, cucumbers, and sacrificial eggplants...

Those are the scraps mainly from a batch of Winter Squash soup I made the other day from last year's banana squash and this year's leeks. That pile (and the entire bed) will soon be covered with mulch - a layer of tall grass that I cut from the yard with a swing blade.

If I already have the mulch in place, I just lift the layer of mulch, and toss the scraps under. The worms, and soil critters go to town under there, making short work of such 'goodies'.

Filters - absolutely OK. You couldn't do anything better with them. Very smart to rip them up first.

Coffee grounds - wonderful to compost; worms especially love them.

The only controversy is on the question of do they add nitrogen (N). I believe the current consensus is yes they do initially, but in the long run they do not. For some reason bacteria really go crazy over coffee grounds. So much so that their numbers consume all the N from the coffee and then go looking for it elsewhere. The result is that as they decompose the coffee compost really needs a shot of N from somewhere else. If you are combining the used coffee with other garden and kitchen waste, then no problem. If coffee is your sole source for N, however, you will want to boost the compost with another high nitrogen amendment.

Aside from the N requirement, coffee grounds add immensely to the compost texture and water retention. Add that to the fact that they encourage earthworms to add their castings and you have a great addition to the pile.

I also add some coffee grounds on top of my straw/shredded leaf mulch around my vegetables to help that break down to a nice compost layer for the following spring.

http://www.sunset.com/garden/earth-friendly/starbucks-coffee-compost-test

Soil bacteria do not consume nitrogen and then go elsewhere. They lack certain, shall we say, locomotion. They tie up N for a time and then die and release it again. Lloyd's link pretty much sums up the available N.

tj

As long as those sticks, and other high carbon material, are put on the soil surface, mulch, and not dug in the soil, soil amendment, they will not "tie up" Nitrogen because the soil bacteria will take a very long time digesting them.

Whether to use permanent coffee filters in place of the paper filters depends on whether you can find one that works with your coffee maker. We had a coffee maker that came with a permanent filter that had solids in the brewed coffee, unsatisfactory. We have not seen that with the paper filters.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank you all for your input! rgreen48, that is an impressive garden you got.. Those little green houses you have are awesome. I've been snooping around my shop at work trying to find some materials to use to make one like them. Does anyone here have any experience with Moonflowers?

So here is some pictures of my moon flower vines. I'm hoping someone here can help me out. I have no idea what to do with the vines that are growing off of the plant along the ground. I'm scared to train them up the trellis in fear that they will choke the rest of the plant? Also the two main vines are hanging off the top of the trellis by approx. 3 ft. What can I do to stop the vine from growing? I've heard you can let them climb back down the trellis but that doesn't sound right to me. Anyway if anyone here has any feedback for me I would really appreciate it. Thanks guys!

Sorry, I know nothing about moon flowers. The greenhouses are really just 1/2 pvc pipes cut to 9' and formed into a tunnel. They are covered with an insect barrier. I haven't used them as an actual greenhouse yet, but someday I might.

If you go to your local hardware store or plumbing supply house, you can get the pvc at a reasonable price. There are different types of pvc, test them out right in the store to find the ones you want. If I get more, I will make them longer and the tunnel higher. I have 3 of them. One over the brassica bed; one over winter squash; and one over zucchini. Every one of those plants are pushing at the top of the tunnels, so an extra 6" would help a lot. The 2 you see in the pic are over the squashes. Where I live, if I have any hope of growing these varieties of squash, they have to be covered from the vine borers. They are particularly active here in Tn. It's not a question of if they'll get your squash, it's a matter of when ...

That's funny, we have a pile of scrap PVC conduit that i was just looking at this past weekend and that's exactly what i was thinking of going with. Did you built some type of frame on the ground? or did you just stick the pvc in the ground? What did you do to make the plants excess able?

You'll need a stake to stick the pipe on at either end. A footlong piece of rebar works well. They sell them precut at the hardware store.