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c/climate-action•barbarahillbarbarahill•1mo ago

My neighbor's composting trick saved me $60 a year on fertilizer

My neighbor Carol told me last spring to just throw my coffee grounds and eggshells straight into the garden instead of the compost bin. I thought she was nuts cause I always heard you gotta balance greens and browns. But I tried it on one tomato plant and it grew twice as big as the others. Now I save about $60 a year on bagged fertilizer and my soil looks way darker. Anybody else skip the fancy composting steps and just toss stuff directly on the ground?
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3 Comments
xena_rivera63
Oh yeah, I read somewhere that coffee grounds are acidic enough to actually mess with your soil pH if you go overboard. I use them on my blueberries since they love acid, but I mix them in a little with some crushed up eggshells to balance it out. Never had the mold issue that way.
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perez.barbara
Hang on, are you just tossing the grounds and shells on top of the soil or actually working them in a bit? I've heard straight coffee grounds can actually repel water if they're just sitting there dry.
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norag55
norag551mo ago
About 2 years ago I tried just leaving grounds on top and had moldy clumps in a week. @perez.barbara is right, you gotta scratch them in a little. I use a hand trowel and just stir the top inch or so, never had a problem since.
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