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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:55 pm 
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Location: Fort Worth,TEXAS
I just dumped the whole bin (that had turned liquid) onto the compost. I don't know if they helped it or not. Kind of grossed me out, if you want to know the truth. I wasn't expecting them. :|

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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:46 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:22 pm
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Location: Frisco, Tejas
LOL - I jumped back 10 feet when I first saw them... like maggots from Mars or something. The site of maggots used to make me strongly contemplate adding vomit to the compost bin... guess I've gotten over it because when I see soldier flies buzzing around the bin my first thought is to go to the fridge and find them some 'biology project' leftovers to munch on. Composters are a sick bunch.

...with a teenaged daughter though it is nice to walk out to the bin and lift the lid for her dates... conversation goes like:

Teen: "WHOA! What the heck are those?
Mean Dad: "Soldier Flies"
Teen: "WOW - those are gross!"
Me: "Yep"
Teen: "What are they eating?"
Me: "Some dumb kid who couldn't tell time and got my daughter home late, now let's go look at the chipper/shredder".


Shotgun, Shmotgun - monster maggots get a much more visceral response.


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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:02 pm 
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Adding a comment to this:
If it is organic, it composts. I started composting because I had a business that had roughly 30-50 carboard boxes coming to my house every week. I had no easy way to recycle them so I started tearing them up, spraying with a little molasses and putting them into the bin. that, yard waste, food scraps, sawdust, coffee grounds and yes, dead animals. I get rats in my garden and the chain of events is: Rats eat my garden, trap catches rat, rat goes in compost bin, compost goes into ground, ground feeds tomatoes next year. Hey, we're all compostable

Makes ya wanna start a chorus of akuna-matata don't it?[/quote]


TO KEEP OUT RATS AND ROOTS: I made a frame to sit my compost pile on (made it out of 2x4 wood)....then stapled hardware cloth onto the frame, then built my compost pile on top of that OR in a second application, I sat my black pyramid composter (from Garden Supply) on top of the frame. THIS KEEPS: rats and moles out, also keeps roots out! and it lasts long time......with extra benefit of airflow under the pile and you can take a trowel and shovel out stuff to put around your plants. :lol:


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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:04 pm 
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I made myself a sieve with leftover 2x4s and hardware cloth (1/2 in). It's a great mesh for catching the big chunks and sticks. And I can see it being sturdy enough to support the contents and made it difficult for rats to get through. I put it inside of louvered ends of my attic to keep the squirrels out.

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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:22 am 
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In regards to meat in compost piles I have started to using the Bokashi composting system & I am amazed @ the amount of time it takes to ferminate all my kitchen waste ...including meats & fishes & their bones


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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 8:38 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:17 pm
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Location: wilmington,nc
Here is a recent observation. At times when I'm too busy to manage the coffee grounds I get every week, I dump them usually three 5 gallon buckets into the compost pile. I was turning part of my compost pile and found that clumps of coffee grounds that were in the pile were completely covered with Trichoderma fungus which is beneficial. I think a little coffee grounds should be added to compost piles to improve the microbial diversity and help stimulate beneficial fungus. By the way, I only turn my pile every couple of months to get a good blend of fungal and bacterial breakdown of my compost.
thx for reading, tarheel


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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2010 9:34 am 
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Hey tarheel, many years ago the mushroom forums were abuzz about the problem with using coffee grounds in their growing medium. Apparently the blue-green fungus is Trichoderma which kills mushrooms.

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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 3:17 pm 
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Wow, I just wanted to say that I love these forums! I drink a lot of coffee and don't know why it never occurred to me to use the coffee grounds in a compost pile or my yard. Thanks a lot for the information! There is a thick layer of crushed acorns and leaves in the parking lot where I work. I think I'll go over there this weekend to scoop them up in some bags, take them home and put them in my compost pile!


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 Post subject: Re: coffee grounds
PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:45 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:17 pm
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Location: wilmington,nc
I would go ahead and start a new big compost pile with the leaves and coffee grounds mixed together or layered. This way by next spring you will have ready to use compost for spring planting. There my be some odor problems if you have too many coffee grounds piled up, since the bottom of that pile will probably go anerobic if it's more than a couple of yards worth. Hope this helps.
Tar.


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