It just occurred to me that despite not much going on the garden, there is in fact, heaps going on in the garden.

Summer has hit Melbourne after what seemed like an endless cold and rainy Autumn. Today was 23° Celsius and Sunny, yesterday was 33°, next Tuesday 14th is 42°, Wednesday 41°, Thursday 43° etcetera. So all there is to do is to prepare the soil for what’s coming, and hope all that hot wind doesn’t stress out the trees or the chickens too much. One of the chooks went blind a few weeks ago (a future post for sure), and don’t really want to see any other weird outcomes as a result of a heatwave.

So what is going on the garden? It just so happens that most of the photos I took today had a theme of rebirth, or new birth. So here goes.

This image below is from an Aloe Vera plant that had until yesterday been in a tallish terracotta pot. The pot got too small so the plant went out into the garden proper, and you can see how it shoots those suckers out. This is great way for spreading lots of aloe around the garden, because I tend to use it frequently. You just cut off one of the leaves and squeeze out the flesh, which is a fresher version of what you buy in the store.

Another year, another avocado growing from seed. I think this one was just left in a pot over Winter and started to grow out a few months ago. Plenty of water in indirect sunlight will encourage growth. Might keep this one in a pot actually, even thought about bringing it inside for looks but that would ruin any chance of ever getting fruit off it.

This amazing seedling is from a Black Sapote. I pulled the seed out in Cairns about 6 months ago and it took all this time to sprout and grow enough to discard the shell. They are a damn tough seed to break through and it is really amazing how they do it. Similar to the avocado above, it takes time for the plant to fully emerge. Now I’ve seen some info that they can be grown this far South, and if it needs to go into the greenhouse then that is just fine by me.

This tropical tree makes one of the most unusual fruits I’ve ever eaten: an apple sized green fruit that goes soft like a water balloon, filled with chalky thick brown chocolate flesh. Goes very nicely with cream and papaya. In fact, it is going to be a post for the blog sometime (this year!), let me find all the photos…

Ever see a Loquat tree? Very popular with gardeners out my way and well suited to Melbourne conditions. You get a mid-sized evergreen with lovely little orange fruits before Summer starts. A good gap fruit between the Apples and the Cherries!

The photo below is from a handful of loquart seeds that have now germinated, after a month of so in a plastic baggie. You just wrap the seeds in a damp paper hand towels and place into the bag on a window sill, and if they want to grow that is how they do it. Once the roots have established somewhat, out they go into pots of their own.

Not much to do with seeds, but there is definitely some rebirth here. This mountain of vermicast was produced by compost worms, who converted food scraps and coffee grounds into a highly prized natural fertilizer.

I’ve found that the best way to broadcast it is for the chickens to do most of the work. I just lay down a handful near my fruit trees and make sure the chooks see me doing it. They run over to eat the worms, and help spread the rest out and scratch it into the soil for free. Love ‘em.

So you see, there are many seedlings of Summer this year.

How are you going with starting off new plants in your garden?

Round one – heatwave!

I’m sure spidey did a great job keeping off the aphids and other little bugs from the grape vine.

But for the possum/s that came and ate my almost ready to eat grapes, alas poor spidey – my poor friend spidey.

It’s a Fruit – It’s a Vegetable. Whatever

I’m surprised that Solanum betaceum (Tamarillo), does not feature more often in permaculture systems. They are a fast growing small tree with good drought resistance, thrive in a strong wind when kept in bush form to about 2 meters, and of course, they make delicious fruit – sweet tomato with a hint of sour!

Now the tree in question is the first one of its kind to grace my garden, and seeing how I am the happy parent, here are the happy snaps throughout the fruit growing season.

So how good is this tree? Let’s have a look at some random facts that you possibly don’t need to know but will be compelled to read, at which point you will be unable to resist buying my latest book from Amazon or iTunes (aka resistance is futile).

1. Your fruit basket just got more interesting

You see people bringing fruit to the office all the time, so how many of them have apples, oranges, maybe figs if your lucky. How many of them have a Tamarillo? Good chance it is none, which makes your snack all the more interesting, plus its got a heap of vitamins and other junk like that.

2. Plant one when you get a new cat or dog

The Tamarillo tree will last you about 12 years, which is ideal for charting the lifecycle of a new family pet. Whichever one dies first, replace the other one at the same time!

3. A solarium is out of the question

The Tamarillo tree does not like the kind of relentless Summer sun that visits me here in Melbourne, Australia. During our most recent heatwave, i.e. 40+ Celsius days with strong dry wind gusts, the poor tree was wilted and about half the fruit dropped. It even burned some of the fruit that would later ripen. If you get these kinds of weather conditions, then try and place the tree in partial shade, or even as an understory plant.

4. ‘Ahh me arms!’

The Tamarillo is more productive with a hard prune after each growing season. Fruit sets on new growth, so the more you cut back to the trunk, the higher the number of individual fruit next year. If you want fewer but larger fruit, then do a partial prune.

5. Survive another day of the zombie apocalypse

And like any other food producing tree in your garden, the Tamarillo provides yet another source of sustenance you for and the family/community. The one sitting in my yard started giving fruit after 12 months, about 3 kilos worth, and will increase this amount year on year for some time yet.

Add it to the apples, cherries, figs, and things that come out of chickens. A great tree to include in the forest garden!

Are you growing a Tamarillo tree? What’s it doing for you?

Hungry? Just grab it!

You see how it works, just like a vending machine. Sure it’s only working a few weeks a year, but nature doesn’t work on our timetable. She does it when ever she bloody well wants!

Here are some handy instructions to follow:
1. Approach tree with ripe fruit
2. Pick off the fruit you want to eat
3. Discard any feelings of guilt for not having inserted notes or coins – our fruit vending machine is free
4. Eat fruit
5. Repeat step 4 until:
A. You run out of ripe fruit
B. You eat yourself sick
C. Birds start pecking at your head to show you who the boss really is
D: You have more than one fruit vending machine running at the same time, which means you need to start all over at step one – you poor thing!!

Now how it works good is if you get yourself a whole heap of fruit tree vending machines, and chances are at least one of them will be ‘working’ at any one time. You get it!

A full week of rain in Melbourne marked the transition from an Indian Summer wannabe to Autumn proper. It felt like the soil itself let out a welcome sigh of relief, as a contestant drizzle eventually soaked the earth until it could hold no more. The best (or worst) sign of this is when find a heap of dead worms on your back porch on the morning after a big storm.

Now soaking the soil with rain water just got better over at my place due to having brought in a couple of tonnes of basalt and granite dust, mixed in with quality garden soil. It is a remineralization of the soil experiment that will have its own post shortly, and suffice to say – the trees are loving it!

One such tree that seems grateful for the change is the Tamarillo, having just been pruned back hard in preparation for a new season of growth. As I’ve described previously, tamarillo fruit is borne on new growth, and a hard prune will result in a greater harvest.

I’m also participating in an interesting initiative named Tree Following, where each month a heap of gardeners from around the world document the changes of a nominated tree – which in my case is the tamarillo.

From the site:

Each year, I choose a tree and see what it does:
when its leaves appear and when they fall
which twigs grow and which fall off
if it has seeds
and if any germinate and grow into new trees
what its bark looks like – when it’s wet and when it’s dry
whether anything grows on it – like lichen
whether creatures sit on – insects, birds, butterflies
what plants grow round it and what they do too.
And I invite others to join me – to choose a tree and to ‘follow’ it.

So here goes!

Plus, it is another reason to be writing for you guys. Got any trees you feel are special. Sure you love them all, but some more than others?

This broadbean seedling was growing too close to some garlic so needed to move it. I was surprised by how vigorous the root system was so wanted to share this with you.

See how those little grains of rock are growing into the roots? The result of remineralising my soil with basalt and granite dust. It’s working!

So you need food to eat in your forest garden, and you are growing all the regulars – apple, pear, citrus, fig, and so on.

Then your shrub level (using Patrick Whitefield’s 3 level arrangements as per his How to Make a Forest Garden), is hard at work. All those empty spaces are getting filled with berries, pepino, herbs, globe artichoke. But there is fruit from a plant that you might have seen but never tried – Fuchsia!

I was reading a great book by Mark Diacono named Taste of the Unexpected, and in this he mentions fuchsia as an edible option.

From page 81 of the 2010 hard copy:

Mini-batons, up to 6cm long, develop from the flowers, typically turning from green through reds to a deep purple. They may not be huge, but their flavour is so very special, with suggestions of kiwi, plum and sweet grapes, as well as a gentle edge of pepper that comes along near the end.

Buy or grow from cuttings One of the best things about fuchsia is that they take from a cutting very easily. So my advice here is to look be on the lookout for a plant with good sized flowers (which indicates the size of the fruit), and take a few pieces from it.

The general process for a fuchsia cutting is:

• Cut a section just below a leaf node
• Leave one flower and remove the bottom half of leaves
• Dip stem into hormone powder or gel (an option not essential)
• Push into some gravely mix and add water
• Keep the pot out of direct sunlight and keep the soil moist

Or you could buy some already established plants – it will be a heap quicker, but all up to you. This is a great example of the fuchsia shrub, sitting in filtered sunlight at the base of a Camellia.

The fruits are just waiting to be taken.

And here we go with the ripe fruit. Ready when soft to touch – remove and eat! Or turn into jam.

  What kind of plant are you eating unexpected fruit from? 

Like it wasn’t hard enough to get ‘us’ to recycle used coffee grounds already, humanity has found a way to trap those grounds in metal or plastic to make the task that little bit more impossible.

Not ready to accept us slowly suffocating on our own garbage, the friendly team here at Ground to Ground have been experimenting with the best way to pry those valuable used grounds from their 21st century pod tombs.

So with the kitchen bench-top turned into a workbench, which tool makes for the best coffee grounds remover-er from a pod device?

The Meat Tenderizer

Rating – 4 out of 10
While it was fun to pound that evil coffee pod with an aluminium metal hammer, it did little to split the casing.

The only thing I wanted to do after this was smack a chicken breast and get some egg, flour and breadcrumbs onto it and straight onto the fry pan.

So fighting back a relentless hunger, I returned to the task at hand, a responsibility that I take seriously let me tell you.

The Old Blue Ikea Spoon Thing

Rating – 6 out of 10

This particular utensil has survived making 500 low fat lasagna dishes and so seemed an obvious choice to take it to the coffee pod.

It did not disappoint, cutting through the aluminum casing fairly easily.

Required a firm press and wiggle technique so might not be the best with a large volume of pods to open.

The Pizza Cutter

Rating – 3 out of 10

We don’t make that many pizzas at home so this was as new as you can get. It came in some xmas present from work so kind of felt guilty throwing it away.

Wow imagine my surprise when rummaging through the pantry draw and there was this sharp little coffee pod destroyer just waiting for me.

Unfortunately, it took about three of four times to actually cut through the pod, which I’m sure would go through a pizza base without difficulty or even serve some purpose in a zombie apocalypse.

However, for coffee pods it works not good – avoid!

The Soap Cutter

Rating – 9 out of 10

Soap blocks are thick and dense, just like a muscular stupid person.

Soap cutters are heavy and made for splitting through slabs of the stuff, so getting through a coffee pod was child’s play.

Not only does it cut through well, but you can also spread the two halves easily.

Although it was not attempted on this fine day of discovery, I think it would easy enough to cut through multiple pods if stacked together.

Wusthof Classic Cook’s Knife

Rating – 7 out of 10

We keep our knives blunt on purpose – a rule of survival for clumsy people. Nevertheless, this cook’s knife sliced right through the coffee pod like it was soft butter.

It might actually be the most useful tool for multitasking, because you could cut through a few pods while making a salad or dicing some kind of meat dish.

You could also participate in a Filipino knife fight with your non-coffee pod cutting hand, making this the most versatile coffee pod opener available in the world today.

The Cheap Plastic Handle Screwdriver

Rating – 1 out of 10

This poor thing came out of some kind of build your own furniture set. It did not represent the screwdriver community well when it comes to piecing open coffee pods.

Actually the thing is a piece of rubbish and it ended up buried in the backyard.  The metal part of it should decompose in the next decade or so and the plastic will be gone by the end of the century, but out of sight – out of mind.

There is a high price to be paid for failure. A high price indeed!

The Flower Snippers

Rating – 5 out of 10

Not just the tool of choice for dead-heading flowers, this handy little device will snip through a coffee pod without difficulty.

Only issue is that the cut will be tight and some work is required to open the pod enough to allow the grounds to wash out.

A bonus is the auto opening blades, which means that if you were a very lazy person it requires less work than any other utensil.

 
Sissors

Rating – 9.5 out of 10

And for ease of use and effectiveness the good old pair of scissors rein supreme.

Take a deep breath… Cutting all the way through the pods with hardly any effort, it was as if the good people at Nescafe knew their pods could be opened this way and printed it on the box so people at home could use scissors and not need to throw those perfectly fine coffee grounds into the garbage and go to landfill to make methane and further pollute the Earth.

But then again, maybe not.

So in first place our Gold medal winner – Scissors!
And just behind in second – Soap Cutters!
Third place belongs to – the Heavy Kitchen Knife!

Please congratulate our winning utensils, and no matter what you happen to have in your kitchen draw, a recycled coffee pod is a not so terrible coffee pod!!

There are many joys waiting in the Spring garden. The most important one for me is sitting on a log watching it all go by.

There is Zen somewhere between chickens scratching at the ground and the hum of a city carried by the wind. Nectar feeding birds fight for the highest branches of the Banksia tree, while below, bees and flies swarm over bushes of lavender and stinging nettle.

Closest to where I sit is a four year old tree, a favorite. In place of white flowers are tiny green welts on stalks, which will swell over several months into the dark purple of a Stella Cherry.

In between those moments was the welcome task of of image gathering – here are some to share with you. From a lovely Melbourne Spring.

Did I need another reason to get back into the office after a 3,000 km family road trip? Well a container full of used coffee grounds just sealed the deal 😄

There is something of a tradition at my place now with freshly picked figs being scoffed in the backyard from the middle of summer.

By mid January the fruit darkens a purple stain through the green skin. And there is the matter is getting to them before the birds, which according to my chickens (who get what’s left of them) they also consider them delicious.

These are from the Black Genoa, with the White Adriatic not far behind.
In a pot is a cutting from a fig tree I found in South Australia. Not sure what variety but you can be sure that it’s going to be damn fine eating 🌳

Freshly picked ripe figs under the Summer sun. Wash them down with ice tea.
Queue happiness.

Photos taken by Zach Latimore on Finca Idealista Farm, Matagalpa, Nicaragua

For most people, coffee grounds represent the “end” of the coffee process. Everything that has happened to those beans since they were picked from the tree has been done with the end goal of roasting them, grinding them, and then brewing coffee with them. The grounds are the end state of a long journey.

Now, if you’re using your coffee grounds as a compost ingredient or even as a direct fertilizer, it may not make sense to say that those grounds are at the “end” of the coffee process, as beginnings and endings don’t fit very well into the cyclical nature of composting and gardening in general. Still, to see those grounds as simply the waste product of a beverage or a compost ingredient is to overlook a long, laborious, and fascinating process that produced those grounds in the first place.

In recent years there has been an effort among coffee roasters, brewers, and drinkers to get to know their coffee and its origins. The advent of Direct Trade has allowed many on the consuming end to learn something about those on the producing end, putting a face to what has long been a rather anonymous product.  Another aspect of this effort to know more about coffee is the process itself. Not only is it great to know about who grew the coffee you’re drinking, it is also important to understand what the work was like.

This past winter I spent three months on Finca Idealista coffee farm in Nicaragua. November to February is the harvest season in Central America, so I got a great first-hand experience with everything related to coffee production. As a side project, I started a little organic garden at the farm mill using recycled materials I found laying around, which included lots and lots of coffee by-products.

Before I talk about the garden, it will be necessary to define what I mean when I say “the coffee process.” The coffee process is all of the steps it takes to turn coffee cherries on the tree into exportable, green coffee. Since I was in Nicaragua when I learned all of this, I learned all of the terms in Spanish, and I will keep them that way in order to differentiate between coffee at a particular stage in the process and avoid saying “coffee” over and over again, which would get confusing.

Very quickly, then, is the coffee process:

The Coffee Process

First, coffee cherries are picked from coffee plants. Ideally they are picked at optimal ripeness, when they have a beautiful deep red or, with some varieties, yellow, color. Coffee at this stage is called uva.

Then, depending on the style of processing, the coffee will either be de-pulped and fermented (washed), de-pulped and immediately set to dry (honey process/semi-washed), or set directly to dry without depulping (natural process).

Honey process and natural process coffees are known for their exotic, fruity, sweet, and otherwise interesting flavors, but they’re also difficult to pull off, especially when you’re a poor, rural farmer with limited resources.

For that reason, the vast majority of coffee in Central America is washed. And don’t worry, washed coffee is by no means inferior- as long as you take care during processing, it will still be awesome.

The depulping process is usually done with a machine designed to separate the beans inside the cherry from the skin of the cherry itself. Even for a modestly sized farm such as the one I was at, you’re still depulping hundreds of pounds of coffee at a time. That means you end up with a lot of pulp.

You can see in the layers the different rates of decomposition. And keep in mind that the upper layers are less than 24 hours old, while the lower layers are no more than a few days. This stuff decomposes fast.

Coffee pulp is an interesting material. In the picture on the right below is fresh pulp, which still retains those lovely red and yellow colors. On the left is a picture I took after digging away in a mound of pulp.

After the coffee has been depulped, it is put in a tank to ferment for one to two days and then washed in small canals to remove defects and clean off the sticky mucilage from the beans in order to stop the fermentation process. It is then put out in racks to dry.

At this stage it is called pergamino. In pergamino, the beans are still within a papery sheath that protects them (pergamino is Spanish for parchment). Underneath that sheath is a very thin layer, and then the bean itself. Freshly washed pergamino is known as pergamino mojado, or wet pergamino. Once the pergamino has dried enough to be dry to the touch, it is pergamino oreado. At this point the moisture in the bean itself is about 44%.

The pergamino must dry to between 12% and 13% humidity to be considered ready for reposo, or rest, for the coffee. This just means putting the coffee into a sack to allow the remaining moisture to distribute evenly throughout the coffee. Ideally the pergamino has been turned and stirred constantly in the time between washing and reaching that 12% to 13% level in order to promote even drying, but good reposo is still necessary to produce top-quality coffee.

After reposo, which lasts about a month, the pergamino seco, or dry pergamino, is ready to be stripped of its parchment, exposing the green coffee beans inside. Like depulping, this is usually done by machines and results in tons by-product, in this case pelusa, or ground up parchment. Pelusa, as ground up pergamino, is very light and dry, almost dusty feeling. After removing the pergamino, the coffee beans are then sorted according to size and weight and then a combination of machine and human sorting is done to remove defects.

Now the coffee is called oro, the name for green, exportable coffee.

Oro is shipped abroad where your favorite small-batch, artisan roaster roasts it up and you or your favorite local café grind it, brew it, and then, at long last, those grounds are ready to be added to your home garden!

The Compost

The coffee process, then, results in two main by-products- pulp and pelusa. Luckily, pulp is a nutrient-rich material. It is relatively high in nitrogen and potassium among other beneficial organic qualities.

It is already common practice among coffee farmers to toss pulp at the base of their plants. In fact, at one farm I visited, I was astounded by the lush, deep greenness of coffee plants as far as I could see. I wasn’t surprised to hear that this particular farmer practiced this sort of disposal with his pulp.

The other great thing about coffee pulp is that, when left in giant mounds, as it almost always is, it rapidly heats up to a pretty high temperature as it decomposes. This of course is true for most organic materials left in giant mounds, but with coffee pulp you have a material with the right size, consistency, organic content, and quantity to be able to consistently and quickly achieve these temperatures.

Pelusa, on the other hand, isn’t as rich as pulp. However, its dryness and fluffiness makes it a great partner for pulp, which decomposes into a dense, sticky, heavy mass that can be difficult to work with. And, like pulp, you produce tons of pelusa during the coffee process, so you might as well find some use for it.

When I arrived at the farm, there was already a compost area, saving me many hours of hard work. The compost had been mixed in some deep pits. Apparently the pits were left in the ground from the previous coffee mill on which the current one was built. They allowed one to mix large amounts of compost without taking up tons of surface space. I’d like to thank whoever prepared all that before my arrival; no hard work goes unnoticed at Finca Idealista.

Because there were three of them, I was able to designate them as long-term, medium-term, and ready-to-go compost, adding organic material of various sizes to the appropriate pit.

When I finally used up all of the ready-to-go compost in the garden, I made a layer cake of pulp and pelusa, alternating layers of each in one of the pits like so:

When it came time to transplant, I dug out a little hole for each plant and added compost, planting each seedling into its own compost hole. Onions and carrots were direct-seeded into a full layer of the stuff about two or three inches deep.

If there was something about coffee pulp compost that would kill the plants, this would be the moment.

The nature of the pit makes the compost rather difficult to turn, and for that reason the previous year’s compost was basically a mass of pelusa at the bottom with an extra heavy, dense mass of pulp on top. Hopefully layering the two will prevent that in the future and also make it easier to turn, which is quite a chore when it’s in a hole in the ground. I can’t wait to see how it turns out next year. Even after a few days it had already sunk down in the hole a bit, so I added a few more layers.

The Garden

One of the disappointing things about cash crops like coffee is that they de-incentivize holistic approaches to farming in favor of pumping every available resource into the money-making crops. This results in strange situations such as seeing poor farmers using their money to buy fruits and vegetables, or having difficulty finding tomato or cucumber seeds in an agricultural region with an ideal climate for growing such plants.

All of which is to say that the garden I started at the farm had a bit of a mission behind it, although it was also a project simply of my own gusto. Finding seeds for a small garden in Matagalpa, Nicaragua isn’t as easy as you’d expect. Most agricultural stores either didn’t have them or only had them in quantities for planting a few city blocks’ worth.

Eventually, however, I was able to find tomatoes, cucumbers, a little type of pepper called chiltoma, jalapeño, onion, and carrots. After soaking the seeds in water overnight, we planted them in egg cartons using a mix of old coffee pulp compost, super rich soil from the mountain near the coffee plants themselves, and sand. I was told to expect a germination rate of 0-10% but to my surprise it was near 100%!

The next week or so was spent prepping beds for when it was time to transplant. The soil around the farm’s mill (which, it should be made clear, is different from the actual coffee plantations) wasn’t terrible, but high clay content kept the soil too dry in periods without rain, and there were weeds to be cleared too. It took me about two weeks to clear weeds, dig drainage ditches, and hack the soil into chunks more appropriate for mixing with compost.

Once done, however, it all looked pretty inviting.

Instead, however, they all responded very well, shooting up and growing at an ever faster pace. Despite daily watering, the soil kept drying out more than I would have liked. A nice thick layer of pelusa mulch solved this problem, however. The pelusa didn’t necessarily hold water as much as some wood shavings we gathered up and used as well, but it did keep the soil underneath nice and moist and also prevented weed growth.

All in all, the compost contributed to a vibrant, healthy garden. Despite my continual accidentally killing the tomatoes, they consistently rebounded and kept growing. At about two months the cucumbers and tomatoes were flowering but sadly it was then that I had to leave, never to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

The Conclusion

Using coffee pulp and pelusa in compost is only one of many uses for those materials. Pelusa can be used as a fuel source and there has sprung up a veritable coffee industry around testing and finding new uses for coffee pulp, from animal feed to mushroom cultivation to biogas to tea to flour. As in, flour for baking. None of these uses, however, has been adopted on a large scale. The recent boom in coffee has so far outpaced efforts to make the process more efficient and less wasteful. As it is, most farmers might throw their pulp on the ground around their plants, but that it about the extent of their use of it. Since there are so many more tons of pulp than could possibly be used as fertilizer, it is a shame to see it go to waste when, with the right structures and mechanisms in place, it could be another source of income for farmers who often need to squeeze every penny out of their crops.

More than the economic issue, however, is the environmental factor. The same nutrients that make pulp such a rich compost material also mean it is slightly toxic for the environment if not disposed of or composted properly. Furthermore, the depulping process uses a fair amount of water, and washing the coffee uses much, much more.

Both of these processes load the water with the mucilage of the coffee bean, a slimy material that, like the pulp, is slightly acidic. And, since most farmers get their water from whatever nearby river they can and run the post-mucilage water back into those rivers (sometimes dumping pulp directly into the water as well), contaminated water supplies have been an issue in many coffee producing countries.

Again, the rapid and widespread adoption of coffee as a crop by farmers in developing countries can be seen as the source of the issue. The farmers oftentimes have either lack the education of the danger of their methods or the resources to make the appropriate changes if they wanted to. I was lucky to be working on a farm that had an expensive multi-stage volcanic rock water filter for all of the water used for washing coffee. After several stages of filtration the water went to a large pool where it slowly absorbed into the ground. Even then, however, the water needed time for for oxidation to occur to lower the acidity. I couldn’t imagine that stuff going straight back into the river, as it does in many farms around the world.

Hopefully as awareness, resources, and legislation catches up to the coffee boom, we will see more organic, healthy uses of coffee materials.

If you’re interested in more reading, here are some related links:

The Gold Mountain Coffee Growers website

An article about the impact of coffee wastewater on rivers in Ethiopia

What are the best kind of peaches? Imagine a tree full of them just outside your front door. They are nearly ripe, and when you finally get them off the tree to taste, they are best pieces of fruit you ever ate.

Now lucky for me, the Anzac Peach tree was in its fourth year this Summer (which is now in Australia),  and yielded 3 dozen or more of this delightful fruit.

I’ve been lucky to avoid most of the Peach Leaf Curl that other growers seem to get. Not sure exactly why although it might have something to do with the worm tea sprayed on all the plants at the start of Spring, and then every month or so until mid-Summer. Most as foliar feeding, some in the soil. I’d like to think that adding the coffee grounds into the surrounding soil makes a difference (and by extension as one of the worm farm ingredients that eventually becomes worm tea), and maybe it does. Also pruned a bit harder this season, allowing more air and sunlight onto the leaves. Either way, something is working and the resulting fruit is just so much better than anything you can buy.

Something I tried for the first time this year was to reduce the number of fruiting buds, and then continued to thin out the growing fruit until there were about 40 peaches ready to pick. The birds got to some, they always do. But there was enough to share this year :)

So for all you good folk up the North side of this mudball, your Spring is close. You have peach flowers and the resulting fruit to look forward to. As for us here in Melbourne Australia, the peach trees will be sleeping for a while. Maybe next year the Anzac will give me 50!

Peach Tree Fruiting

Banana In a Glass

A banana needs almost no time.

What about the recalcitrant eggshell?

You cannot pulverize chicken bones with your castigations (Die you motherfucker!). But could trying be cathartic? Mid meltdown (as Mrs. Barnes with a thumb on the nine uneasily peers over the fence) you might be roused by a rabbit taking cover in the briar patch. A stray cat plays it cool.

You ask, “How long have I been yelling at these bones?”

“Hell if I know,” says the cat. “How about putting on some pants?”

While regular aeration, the right moisture levels, chopping, a bucket of coffee grounds and—if those eggshells are really bugging you — grinding will get the pile cooking, Time must still hold —as a glass does water — it must hold (not hasten) the microscopic process that returns everything to the earth and that will —someday—return you too. No more than it would importune the critters that carry out this job to “Hurry up!” would Time impatiently tap, tap, tap as you recovered from a kick in the gut… or savored a cup of coffee, for the matter; spring does not scold daffodils.

Take as much time as you need.

Keeping bones out of the compost bin altogether is the safe and often recommended choice, although I don’t adhere to it. I’ll rinse the carcass clean and let it dry in the fridge before chucking it in with the rest of it. In any case,

It’s too much to perfectly dodge adversity (and its remains).

Not everything is a banana.

So,

Turn the pile. Don’t let a stubborn avocado pit ruin the day. Add stuff. Keep turning. Those bones will almost wholly disappear. And no matter what you do, eventually they will.

Dog shit, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter.

Life According to the Compost Pile:

1. Nothing is Wasted
2. Not Everything is a Banana

Prickly Pear fruit is finally appearing, a few years after collecting some of the small cacti from Melbourne’s Western suburbs. Back then it seemed like another way to generate fruit in the garden without too much ongoing effort – after all it’s a cactus!

Plant and ye shall grow!

This particular prickly pear now stands at 8 feet tall and having established itself, will go into full fruit next year. This slow start is fairly much what happened with the Loquat last year, which is now proving buckets of fruit. Fruit trees are an amazing investment, because once you help them start-up, they should reward you for many years for little additional effort on your part.

Add some fruit bearing cacti to your plant menu if you get the chance – they are diverse and delicious, but do mind the prickles!

Hydrangeas are beloved for their stunning, color-changing blooms, which shift from pink to blue depending on soil conditions. Many gardeners look for organic ways to enrich the soil and influence hydrangea color, with coffee grounds being a popular choice. But do they truly benefit hydrangeas, and how should they be used correctly?

This guide explores how coffee grounds affect soil pH, nutrient availability, and overall hydrangea health, along with best practices for incorporating them into your garden.

Why Are Coffee Grounds Good for Hydrangeas?

1. They Provide Essential Nutrients

Healthy hydrangeas need nutrient-rich soil to thrive, and coffee grounds contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, all of which contribute to lush foliage, strong root systems, and abundant blooms.

• Nitrogen (N): Promotes strong, green leaves by enhancing chlorophyll production, which is essential for photosynthesis. Without enough nitrogen, hydrangea leaves may turn yellow, and plant growth can become stunted.
• Phosphorus (P): Supports root development and flower production, ensuring that hydrangeas can absorb nutrients effectively and produce vibrant, long-lasting blooms. A phosphorus deficiency may result in weak root systems and fewer flowers.
• Potassium (K): Improves disease resistance, drought tolerance, and overall plant resilience. Potassium strengthens cell walls, helping hydrangeas withstand stress from weather fluctuations and pests.

Since coffee grounds for hydrangeas act as a slow-release organic fertilizer, they gradually enrich the soil, making them a sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers. Unlike fast-acting chemical fertilizers, which can cause nutrient imbalances or leach into groundwater, coffee grounds break down slowly, providing a steady supply of nutrients over time.

Additionally, coffee grounds contain trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and iron, which play a crucial role in overall plant health. Magnesium aids in chlorophyll production, while calcium strengthens cell walls, reducing the risk of diseases like blossom-end rot. Although these micronutrients are present in small amounts, they complement other soil amendments and contribute to a more balanced growing environment.

To maximize their benefits, coffee grounds should be used in moderation and ideally combined with other organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure. This ensures a well-rounded nutrient profile, preventing excessive nitrogen build-up, which could promote leafy growth at the expense of flowers.

By incorporating coffee grounds strategically, gardeners can enhance soil fertility naturally, promoting healthier, more resilient hydrangeas with vibrant, long-lasting blooms.

2. They Can Help Lower Soil pH (For Blue Blooms!)

One of the most fascinating features of hydrangeas is their ability to change flower color based on soil pH. This natural transformation occurs due to the plant’s uptake of aluminium, which is only available in acidic soils. Here’s how pH affects hydrangea blooms:

• Acidic soil (pH < 5.5) → Blue flowers
• Neutral soil (pH 5.5–6.5) → Purple flowers
• Alkaline soil (pH > 6.5) → Pink flowers

Since used coffee grounds are mildly acidic, they can gradually lower soil pH, helping to enhance blue hydrangea blooms. However, coffee grounds alone may not be enough to significantly shift pH levels, especially in already alkaline soils. For faster and more pronounced results, gardeners may also need to incorporate aluminum sulfate or elemental sulfur, which are widely used to intensify blue hues in Hydrangea macrophylla varieties.

Tip: Regular soil pH testing is crucial when using soil amendments. It ensures that pH adjustments are working as intended without making the soil too acidic, which could stress the plant and inhibit growth.

Beyond color control, maintaining the correct soil pH has other important benefits for hydrangeas. Acidic soil improves nutrient availability, allowing the plant to absorb iron, manganese, and phosphorus more efficiently. These nutrients contribute to healthy foliage, strong roots, and vibrant blooms. Conversely, if the soil becomes too alkaline, hydrangeas may struggle to take up essential nutrients, leading to yellowing leaves (chlorosis) and weaker flowering.

Gardeners looking for a pH-neutral alternative to coffee grounds that improves soil structure without altering pH may consider diatomaceous earth for hydrangeas. While it won’t affect bloom color, it enhances soil aeration and drainage, creating a healthier root environment.

By carefully managing soil pH, gardeners can fine-tune hydrangea flower color naturally, achieving stunning blue, purple, or pink blooms without relying on synthetic fertilizers.

3. They Improve Soil Structure and Water Retention

Hydrangeas thrive in moist, well-draining soil, and achieving the right balance between aeration and water retention is crucial for their health. Coffee grounds can significantly improve soil texture, making it lighter, more breathable, and better at retaining moisture—all essential factors for strong root growth and vibrant blooms.

Here’s how coffee grounds contribute to better soil structure:

• Loosening compacted soil – Overly dense or clay-heavy soil can suffocate roots, making it difficult for hydrangeas to absorb water and nutrients. Coffee grounds act as a natural soil conditioner, helping to break up compacted soil, allowing roots to expand freely.
• Increasing moisture retention – Hydrangeas are water-loving plants, and coffee grounds help the soil hold onto moisture longer, reducing the need for frequent watering—especially in warm or dry climates.
• Enhancing drainage – While hydrangeas need consistent moisture, excess water can cause root rot. Coffee grounds contribute to better drainage, ensuring that water doesn’t pool around the roots.

Since coffee grounds improve soil structure by adding organic matter, they gradually decompose, feeding beneficial microorganisms and creating a healthier, nutrient-rich environment for hydrangeas. However, to avoid compaction, they should be mixed into the soil rather than applied in thick layers on the surface.

Coffee Grounds and Beneficial Soil Microorganisms

Beyond their physical effects, coffee grounds also support a thriving soil ecosystem. As they decompose, they encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria and fungi, which break down organic material into nutrients that plants can absorb more easily. This microbial activity enhances soil fertility over time, creating a self-sustaining environment that benefits not only hydrangeas but also other garden plants.

Balancing Soil Amendments for Optimal Hydrangea Growth

While coffee grounds are a fantastic organic addition, they work best when combined with other soil-improving materials. Mixing them with compost, shredded leaves, or pine bark mulch ensures a well-balanced soil environment that retains moisture while allowing excess water to drain properly.

By strategically incorporating coffee grounds, gardeners can create the ideal soil conditions for hydrangeas, ensuring deep root development, stronger stems, and long-lasting, beautiful blooms.

4. They Act as a Natural Pest Deterrent

While coffee grounds aren’t a fool-proof pest solution, they can help repel certain garden nuisances, making them a useful addition to organic pest management strategies. The combination of their coarse texture and natural chemical properties creates an environment that some pests find uninviting.

Here’s how coffee grounds may help deter unwanted visitors from your garden:

• Slugs and snails – The rough, abrasive texture of coffee grounds can create a barrier that deters their movement, helping to protect delicate hydrangea foliage.
• Ants – The strong aroma and mild acidity of coffee grounds may disrupt ant trails, discouraging colonies from establishing near hydrangeas.
• Feral cats – Some gardeners report that coffee grounds sprinkled in garden beds can help keep cats from digging in the soil.

Since coffee grounds as a natural pest repellent have been studied for their effects on slugs and snails, research from the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) suggests that caffeine affects the nervous system of slugs, making coffee a potential deterrent. However, while used coffee grounds contain less caffeine than fresh grounds, their effectiveness varies, and results may depend on factors like soil conditions and pest populations.

How to Use Coffee Grounds for Pest Control

For best results, sprinkle a thin layer of used coffee grounds around the base of hydrangeas, creating a physical barrier against slugs and snails. However, avoid over-application, as excessive coffee grounds may form a water-repellent crust that hinders soil aeration and moisture absorption.

Since pest deterrence varies depending on location and pest pressure, coffee grounds should be combined with other organic pest control methods, such as copper tape, diatomaceous earth, or companion planting, for a more effective approach.

By incorporating coffee grounds thoughtfully, gardeners can enhance their pest management strategy, helping to protect hydrangeas naturally while also benefiting soil health.

How to Use Coffee Grounds for Hydrangeas

1. Direct Soil Application

Sprinkle a thin layer (1-2 tablespoons per plant) around the base of hydrangeas.

• Avoid piling grounds too thickly, as they can form a water-repellent crust.
• Lightly mix them into the topsoil for even distribution.
• Water after application to help nutrients seep into the soil.

Best time to apply: Early spring, mid-summer, and early autumn.

2. Composting Coffee Grounds

Adding coffee grounds to compost balances nitrogen-rich (“green”) materials with carbon-rich (“brown”) materials like leaves, cardboard, and wood chips.

• Limit coffee grounds to 20% of total compost content to prevent excessive acidity.
• Let compost mature before applying to hydrangeas for a well-balanced nutrient mix.

Sustainability: Coffee Grounds in the Garden & Beyond

Using coffee grounds in the garden is just one example of turning coffee waste into a valuable resource. Beyond hydrangeas, coffee by-products like coffee pulp are also being repurposed to enrich soil and promote sustainable farming.

Sustainable gardening practices, such as recycling coffee by-products, can further enhance soil health and reduce waste.

When used correctly, coffee grounds can improve soil quality, enhance hydrangea health, and even influence bloom color. By applying them in moderation and monitoring soil conditions, gardeners can harness this eco-friendly amendment to support thriving, beautiful hydrangeas.

Have you tried using coffee grounds in your hydrangea garden? Let us know how they worked for you!