Enrich Your Mulch Pile by Adding Used Coffee Grounds

I've written several posts about my mulch piles (ref 1, ref 2, ref 3) and you probably already know that I'm really serious about mulching.

During the latter part of 2018 and beginning of 2019, I was going to a local bagel shop. They were saving their used coffee grounds for me. I would go there on Monday to drop off a 9" x 9" aluminum pan and on Thursday I would pick it up full of used coffee grounds. I would add that to my mulch piles and then mix it in a little with the existing material. Every three weeks or so I would pull the contents of the whole mulch pile out, mix it and shovel it back in again. But the amount of used coffee grounds was too little, I wanted more coffee grounds.

Used coffee grounds contain nitrogen as well as some potassium and phosphorus, plus other micronutrients. Adding them to your mulch pile is a good thing. I do NOT add, used or not, coffee grounds directly to the soil.

One sunny spring morning, I went to a Starbucks on Route 300 in Newburgh, NY, to talk to them about their used coffee grounds. I must say, I thought they would laugh at me, but I was wrong. After talking with the manager I found out that the store is very happy to save and give their used coffee grounds to local gardeners. The manager asked me to come back after a week or so because they already have someone who they give their grounds to. Sweet!

As a backup, I drove to my favorite supermarket, Adams Fairacre Farms in Newburgh, to ask them about their used coffee grounds. I knew they had a self-serve area where they sell a variety of coffees and teas. I never paid attention to that area because I am not a coffee drinker. I spoke with the manager and she stated that she would be very happy to give me their used coffee grounds. YES!!!

Well, I got a call a day and a half later from them and they told me that they had a batch ready for me. To start with, let me apologize to all cars and street-crossing people who I almost had an accident with. I drove there like a bat out of hell, parked the car and quickly walked to the coffee area and announced myself. The person working there asked me to get a shopping cart. Well that was a good sign, but I was not sure why. THEY HAD TWO (2) FIVE-GALLON, FOOD GRADE BUCKETS FULL OF USED COFFEE GROUNDS FOR ME! The funny part was that they apologized to me because they had a third bucket, but an employee mistakenly threw it out.

The point that I am trying to make in this post is that home gardeners can go to their local:

• diner/restaurant;
• coffee shop;
• deli;
• Starbucks;
• supermarket;
• bagel shop,

and any other place where they serve coffee and talk to them about getting their used coffee grounds. They will be delighted to share them with you. If you don't take their used coffee grounds, well, they will end up in a garbage can, and that will be a terrible thing.

Keep on drinking coffee!