Saturday, April 18, 2009

My Favorite Pail

Remember those pails I got a month ago. Another of them is being put to good use. Finally. It took a while.

It all started when my husband complained that his company could be greener. He asked me if he brought home the coffee ground, could I compost them. YES! I had no container at the time to put them in but I knew I was getting pails soon so waited. Then I forgot. This kind of behavior is no surprise to my family, but y'all may think I'm perfect. (Quit laughing.) Yes I can be forgetful about my garden too. I do it often enough. A couple of nights ago I forgot to bring the little seedlings in. I'd been in bed an hour and remembered. Ack. Yes I did get up and remedy the situation. It could have gone under freezing that night. It didn't but it could have. And after seeing my poor shivering chard the other day, I didn't want to torture the poor seedlings. Harden them off, don't kill them. Yes that is my motto. At least if I remember.

Anyway back to the main story. So I fianlly remembered and told him I had pails and could he start bringing coffee grounds home? Sure he said. Two days later no coffee grounds. "Where are my coffee grounds?" I ask him. He said I never gave him a pail. "Really?" I thought to myself, "they are right in the garage. About three steps out of his way." But I just thought it. Maybe I said it. I should have just thought it, because there are two types of pails. My white ones and my green ones. He can't have the green ones. They are MINE.

I put a white one out for him the next day. By this time he was off on a business trip. Eventually on Friday, the stars aligned, the angels sang, and I have my first batch of coffee grounds. Ok he took half of Friday off so we could go hiking on our first 70°F day, so there was only half a days worth of coffee grounds barely covering the bottom. But I'm calling my pail half full. I have coffee grounds to compost and I don't even drink the stuff.

I'm expecting more next week. I'm also expecting my pail to runneth over. I hope I'm not expecting too much.

11 comments:

  1. Great way to recycle those coffee grounds! I love putting them around my azaleas & other acid loving plants. Our soil is quite alkaline.

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  2. Really. You forget things? In a way, that makes me happy...because I'm not alone. I have new little seedlings under lights in the garage. I have forgotten to turn off the lights two nights in a row (somewhere I have a timer. I should probably use it). My little plants must be exhausted from no sleep ;-)

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  3. This time of year, I have to beat my husband to our grounds at home in order to get them to the compost pile. When I get the gallon ice cream tubs out of the garage, I'll get him retrained to put them into them.

    It's awesome that you're getting the grounds from your husband's work.

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  4. Wow, my mine works just a little to similar to yours. I've lost count of the times I've climbed out of bed to fix/do something I'd forgotten about.

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  5. I'm a coffee addict and only good coffee, fresh ground. I had stopped collecting coffee grounds because it always turned the bottom of my compost bucket into a thick layer of mucky stuff. Then after seeing all the people composting grounds separately I got myself a separate container to collect it in. Problem solved.

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  6. Your compost and the worms are supposed to love coffee grounds, and you're lucky to have a steady supply.

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  7. I was thinking of composting coffee ground separately but am not sure my family can handle any more waste separation... do you know if it's okay to keep the filters in as long as they're unbleached? Great that you're helping to green up a workplace from afar.

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  8. Now see! Why have I not gotten myself a bucket for work coffee grounds? I need to practice what I preach a little more...

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  9. Ha!!! Classic post, Daphne! When I worked for a corporation, I got the cafeteria to put the grounds (and filters) in a bucket for me every day. I still miss that!

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  10. perennialgardener, I ought to do that with my blueberries this year.

    Annie's Granny, actually it is a bit of a joke in my family. I forget everything. If I didn't have a timer, the lights wouldn't get on or off when they were supposed to. I need my timer. I don't have my fan on a timer. I turn it on assuming I'll remember in an hour to turn it off. Four hours later, I'm downstairs and wonder what that sound is.

    Sue, its nice I have my family well trained with the compost pile. Though we make no coffee grounds, we do have tea bags and other things.

    Stewart, I'm glad I'm not the only one running out to the garden with a flashlight.

    Dan coffee grounds grow some fabulous mold too. Yum Yum. I just have to not let them sit in the pail for too long. Use them fast or dry them out for later.

    Cheryl, I'm hoping for a steady supply. I'm a little worried all get more then I can handle, but I figure worse comes to worse and my back forest will get fertilized.

    Karen, yes filters are fine. They are basically just paper.

    Compostings, lol yes sometimes we are all like that. The big issue is if you have enough carbon for a ton of coffee grounds. I think I have plenty of leaves collected from last fall. I'm hoping at least.

    our friend Ben, It is hard to beat free fertilizer. Nitrogen sources are always my failing in my compost pile since I collect so many leaves. Maybe this year my leaves will have enough to really break down.

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  11. I hate when I forget abut seedlings I've put outside! I've been lucky that it didn't get cold enough right next to the house. I left my fuchsia with buds outside last night and it got down into the 40's! I remember this morning and to check thank god it was alright.

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