Update on GROUNDS Coffee Ground Bedding for your coop!

[humblehillsfarm]

Okay so I picked up the Starbucks coffee grounds. I got maybe 1.5 gallons worth of grounds. The grounds used for regular brewed coffee were left in the filter. I composted the filter. They were course grind and looked great. They also threw in the espresso pucks which are a fine grind and, well, in a puck. So I picked those out and tossed them in the compost (I need more browns anyways so it was good). It’s been rainy today, but tomorrow I don’t think I’ll have issues leaving them in the sun to dry on top of a black plastic trash bag.

Tentatively I will say this is a very doable venture! I need a lot more than what they gave me though so I’ll try a daily collection and if it’s not too much to dry and store it I may just start doing it continuously to share with neighbors or tossing extra in the garden.

 

[drinkoj]

@humblehillsfarm please keep us updated. There are several articles about drying the grounds out but not for how you're using them, this could be a new learning curve.

 

[NatJ]

They also threw in the espresso pucks which are a fine grind and, well, in a puck. So I picked those out and tossed them in the compost (I need more browns anyways so it was good)

According to the lists I've seen, coffee grounds are "green" for compost purposes, despite their actual color.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

According to the lists I've seen, coffee grounds are "green" for compost purposes, despite their actual color.

I am a poor composter. I’ve also heard you can add them straight to the garden without composting so I’ll just do that.

 

[NatJ]

I am a poor composter. I’ve also heard you can add them straight to the garden without composting so I’ll just do that.

I don't actually worry about what color/kind of things go in my compost, as long as it doesn't stink. (If it does stink, it needs either more dry matter, a few days of sun, or something to keep the rain off ) So I dump coffee grounds in compost without caring about the ratio or balance. (Or I dump them on my lawn, or the garden--depends on my mood.)

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I don't actually worry about what color/kind of things go in my compost, as long as it doesn't stink. (If it does stink, it needs either more dry matter, a few days of sun, or something to keep the rain off ) So I dump coffee grounds in compost without caring about the ratio or balance. (Or I dump them on my lawn, or the garden--depends on my mood.)

Mine stinks something awful because I’ve had no browns to add.

 

[NatJ]

Mine stinks something awful because I’ve had no browns to add.

Oh, that is a problem. Do you have newpapers or junk mail? Paper is "brown" for composting purposes. You could rip it up and add it. It also tends to be dry, which is helpful if the pile is too wet.

Depending on how bad it smells--it might be worth getting a bale of straw or wood shavings or something like that to add.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Oh, that is a problem. Do you have newpapers or junk mail? Paper is "brown" for composting purposes. You could rip it up and add it. It also tends to be dry, which is helpful if the pile is too wet.

Depending on how bad it smells--it might be worth getting a bale of straw or wood shavings or something like that to add.

It's pretty bad!! I have a barrel system, first time ever, and the one side is fully composted but I wasn't sure what to do with it once I emptied it so I left it there. The other side was full so I had started tossing scraps over the hill but then a bear attacked my coop so I don't want to do that anymore and my new roommate is overlyenthusastic about throwing scraps, even chicken scraps, into the compost bin so the smell only started in the last two weeks. My yard is dead so no more dried grass to add to it. I think I need to empty the one side that's finished and partially empty the other and add to the new open side before adding straw. I just hated the idea of adding perfectly good straw to it. It's so hard getting enough brown just from waste material!

 

[NatJ]

It's so hard getting enough brown just from waste material!

Hmm. I think in that situation I'd look at paper-type things. Cardboard boxes, newspaper, junk mail, envelopes, maybe used kleenexes, used paper napkins, paper bags... Some of them would need to be ripped or cut before putting them in, of course. (My household produces plenty of paper-type waste, so that's where I'm getting my ideas. Of course yours might be different.)

If you've got any 100% cotton clothing that is ready to be thrown away, you could cut that up and compost it too. (Cotton being made from plants.)

It's corn-on-the-cob season, so you might have corn husks and corn cobs. They can be dried in the sun if you want them less wet-- the husks in particular should be about as good as hay, after drying.

(Just throwing out ideas as I think of them.)

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hmm. I think in that situation I'd look at paper-type things. Cardboard boxes, newspaper, junk mail, envelopes, maybe used kleenexes, used paper napkins, paper bags... Some of them would need to be ripped or cut before putting them in, of course. (My household produces plenty of paper-type waste, so that's where I'm getting my ideas. Of course yours might be different.)

If you've got any 100% cotton clothing that is ready to be thrown away, you could cut that up and compost it too. (Cotton being made from plants.)

It's corn-on-the-cob season, so you might have corn husks and corn cobs. They can be dried in the sun if you want them less wet-- the husks in particular should be about as good as hay, after drying.

(Just throwing out ideas as I think of them.)

I thought husks were green and through them in my garden to avoid the compost!