Green on the Cheap: Grounds for your garden

It seems that everyone loves Starbucks. Even plants.

Coffee grounds, as it turns out, make for excellent additions to your garden soil - great if you're buried in clay as we are. My husband used to tell me that strawberry plants love coffee. Cynical, I would pour his leftover coffee and grounds occasionally on my small strawberry patch. It apparently helps improve the nitrogen in your soil.

The plants thrived. I was sold.

One day, my husband told me he had a treat for me from Starbucks. It was a 2 lb. bag of coffee grounds, packaged and ready for the garden. As it turns out, you're often able to request your own bag of grounds at Starbucks locations. From there, you can mix it into your compost or soil, or, if you're lazy like I am, unceremoniously dump it on your plants and let the rain wash it into your soil.

If you don't see bags readily available, ask at the counter. I inquired about the coffee grounds. The barista asked how much. I responded a bag or two -- and received a kitchen-sized trash bag filled with grounds. Great fertiziler for the soil, for free.