Reducing waste - part II: Using coffee grounds in your (vegetable) garden

Source: Unsplash

What you can do with coffee grounds... There are so many different purposes for this residual product that I decided to dedicate a series of blogs to it.

As a conscious entrepreneur, we think it's super important to keep looking at our 'ecological footprint' and actually reducing waste is of course a very concrete step...

In this earlier blog I already told you about making a DIY facial scrub. This time we're going to talk about coffee grounds in your vegetable garden!

Of course, you usually just throw coffee grounds away. This is actually a shame when you look at the possible added value of this brown stuff!

Coffee grounds as plant food

Coffee grounds, or coffee grounds as it is also called, are very suitable as plant food in your (vegetable) garden.

Coffee grounds are slightly acidic and some plants and vegetables respond well to this. Roses and hydrangeas, for example, thrive with some coffee grounds.

Tomatoes, carrots and pumpkins can also benefit from it. It seems that it is less pleasant for potted plants or calcareous plants (boxwood, herbs, figs and grapes).

If you are unsure about your plant, I advise you to look up the specific plant, for example in this overview.

Coffee grounds against snails

Coffee grounds are also an ideal ground cover. Snails, for instance, don't seem to like coffee grounds.

So are you bothered by snails attacking your plants? Then put your used coffee grounds on the soil of the plants that are affected.

Please note the first point above regarding acid-loving or calcareous plates :-)

Coffee grounds as a cat repellent

Do you not have cats yourself, but do you suffer from cats that poop in your garden? Just like snails, cats don't seem to like (the smell of) coffee.

Do you have leftover coffee grounds? Then try sprinkling it in the places where cat poop is normally found.

In addition, there are many other options for reusing coffee grounds. Read, for example , what Frank from baristaworden.nl does with coffee grounds

Please let us know what your experience is and if you have any other useful tips?