This week I visited a local coffee shop and picked up 20+ buckets full of coffee grounds. The grounds are waiting for eager gardeners to collect and use them. But why? First, finding a purpose for food waste is always beneficial. If something that would otherwise be in the landfill is given new life, then that’s a step in the right direction of sustainability and using the resources available to you. Gardeners take interest in coffee grounds as a way of feeding their soil microbiomes. Mixing coffee grounds into your soil can improve its quality by feeding the microbes and promoting drainage and better soil structure. It’s a chain reaction. 

Coffee grounds can also be a great addition to compost. While adding them directly to the soil is an option, composting them first allows the nutrients to be broken down and more readily available. 

With all this being said, it is important to not over do it. Adding too harsh of a concentration to compost or directly to the garden can have negative effects on your plants. Before attempting to help your plants, make sure you won’t hurt them.