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Jan 28, 2015 7:00 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Linda
Omaha, N.E (Zone 5b)
Always room to plant one more!
Bird Bath, Fountain and Waterfall Region: Nebraska Hummingbirder Houseplants Critters Allowed Container Gardener
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I read that a mound of coffee grounds is like candy to worms and you will get a lot
of worms if you did coffee ground mounds, never did see worms as a result, anyone else
ever heard this?
You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because they have roses!
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Jan 30, 2015 7:53 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I've heard it said many times, and when I had any worms, they did seem to zero in one coffee grounds.

I've also heard that slugs avoid coffee grounds, but I'm not sure I believe that.

However, I think my soil is too starved for worms to spend much time here. The first year I made a compost they, they arrived and thrived, but I haven't seen them since, even in my current compost heaps.

I was thrilled to go from:

"I have a few big worms"
to
"I have many small worms!"
to
"I have many medium-size worms!!"

But now I have very few worms.
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Feb 25, 2015 7:32 AM CST
Name: Tom Cagle
SE-OH (Zone 6a)
Old, fat, and gardening in OH
I find worm eggs are glued onto autumn leaves. Spread them around and a new crop of worms will be the result.
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Feb 25, 2015 12:31 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I've thought about driving to a more residential neighborhood where bags of leaves might be left by the curb.

Or just buying worms ... but I think they are absent because I don't feed them (or the clay soil) ENOUGH compost.
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 12, 2015 8:27 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I have a worm tower (currently residing in heated garage for the winter) and, while I've never put coffee grounds in there (saving them for the outdoor compost pile), my red wigglers love bananas. They'll eat all but the outer most layer of the peel. Not sure if "outdoor" worms would be any different in their preferences. You might try bananas under a layer of shredded leaves.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 7:36 AM CST
Name: Kyla Houbolt
Gastonia, NC (Zone 7b)
Composter Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Herbs Daylilies Sempervivums
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Coming back to this worm thread to say that last year I was bemoaning (somewhere haha) the lack of worms here (it was my first year gardening and composting here) and that now there are worms everywhere.

I do compost coffee grounds and sometimes also "compost in place" -- put them right into the beds along with some other kitchen waste. Can't do too much of that as my housemate wouldn't like it but it sure does help the soil.

I also collected huge numbers of leaves last fall, and had one whole side of the yard ranked with big plastic garbage bags full of leaves. Most of those are used now as mulch and have been used in the compost as well. I have one bag left. Green Grin!

And everywhere I dig there are worms.
Thumb of 2015-05-08/kylaluaz/503bb5
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 8, 2015 7:51 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Kyla - I'm catching on to the kitchen scraps from DD. Have always thrown them in the compost pile but now adding to spot composting in the garden along with some coffee grounds and crushed egg shells, covered with shredded leaves. I even include the coffee filters. I am a little mindful of what I scraps I throw into garden beds as we have lots of raccoons and some possums.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 10:46 AM CST
Name: Kyla Houbolt
Gastonia, NC (Zone 7b)
Composter Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Herbs Daylilies Sempervivums
Frogs and Toads Container Gardener Cat Lover Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! The WITWIT Badge Winter Sowing
I've stopped composting eggshells.... just because they take so long to break down and I end up with little cuts from their edges when I work the compost with my hands, which always ends up happening. I also compost the coffee filters which don't break down as fast as I'd like but at least that way I know I'm getting all the coffee grounds. Green Grin!

Banana skins are supposed to be fabulous for roses, by the way. And as for worms, the only thing I am pretty sure they don't like is citrus, so I don't compost any of that. But it helps the garbage pail smell better, so it's a win. hahaha
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 8, 2015 11:29 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I have heard that about banana skins and I do know that worms love bananas. Ah! good hint about the citrus peels - never thought of that! I don't mind putting the egg shells into the garden. I crush them in a plastic bag with an old rolling pin (if I'm not inclined to use a mortar and pestle) and sprinkle them around with coffee grounds before I mulch. I wear garden gloves most of the time due to poison ivy seedlings that pop up here so it's not an issue for me.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 12:01 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
kylaluaz said:... I also compost the coffee filters which don't break down as fast as I'd like but at least that way I know I'm getting all the coffee grounds. Green Grin!


That's one reason I use the unbleached (brown) coffee filters. They aren't Glare White when one happens to be exposed. The brown filters just look like leaves.

Almost any kind of paper is a good "brown" for compost. It might be "slow-release" cellulose and lignin, but it all feeds the micro-herd eventually.
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May 8, 2015 1:38 PM CST
Name: Larry
Enterprise, Al. 36330 (Zone 8b)
Composter Daylilies Garden Photography Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Garden Ideas: Master Level Plant Identifier
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Region: Alabama
I had never heard of brown coffee filters, that is good to know.
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May 8, 2015 1:44 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Brown filters are unbleached. I have a 10 yo box that I use to stratify seeds in the fridge.
Good point, Rick, but I have a hard enough time finding filters to fit my Bunn coffeemaker. But once the white filters sit in a bucket with drying coffee grounds, they turn brown anyway. Smiling
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 3:31 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I was astonished that my white filters didn't stain right away. But they didn't, not sitting in the yogurt quart jar for a week, or in the compost heap for several weeks.

It was like the old black and white movie where someone invented a cloth that never got dirty: no matter how old, they always looked like a white spotlight on a tuxedo shirt. As if the paper were not only bleached, but also stain-proofed. It seems impossible, but that's what I saw.

Coffee stains everything else!
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 8, 2015 5:29 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Granted - they don't turn as brown as you would think but they aren't bright white anymore. Makes me wonder if I should switch to one of those gold screen inserts instead. Hmm....
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 6:39 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I'm not paranoid about bleached paper, let alone unbleached paper.

But after my youth in the chemical industry and working in labs, I'm not very afraid of anything that isn't a Class Five carcinogen or doesn't dissolve the soles off my shoes.

If it just burns the hair off my forearms and makes me dizzy ... well, been there, done that, had my urine sample checked.

YMMV
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 9, 2015 6:55 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Hilarious!
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 24, 2015 10:19 PM CST
Southern California (Zone 11b)
Garden Photography
Shadegardener said:I have heard that about banana skins and I do know that worms love bananas. Ah! good hint about the citrus peels - never thought of that! I don't mind putting the egg shells into the garden. I crush them in a plastic bag with an old rolling pin (if I'm not inclined to use a mortar and pestle) and sprinkle them around with coffee grounds before I mulch. I wear garden gloves most of the time due to poison ivy seedlings that pop up here so it's not an issue for me.


I dry my eggshells in the oven after cleaning them, them run them through the coffee grinder. I'm thinking of asking a local diner if I can give them a bin for egg shells.... Don't want to overdo it too much. We use about 4 teaspoons of coffee a day.
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 25, 2015 8:18 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I know places like Starbucks sometimes have bins for bags of used coffee grounds that are free to anyone that wants them . That would be great if cafes, diners or restaurants could save egg shells as well. I never have questioned the use of egg shells because it seems like a good idea. Not that I've ever had my soil tested. I wonder how much calcium, etc is really released over time and if it would be detrimental to have too much. Hmmm - now I'm curious.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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Aug 2, 2015 6:11 PM CST
Name: Linda
Bellevue, WA (Zone 8a)
I have a worm bin and put most of my kitchen scraps in there. I cut the banana peels into about 1" lengths and run everything through a food processor. The smaller it is, the faster the worms can break it down. Plus I never have to sieve it or pick out any uncomposted chunks at the end. Putting it in a plastic baggie in the freezer also helps. Explodes cell walls and food is easier to break down. I have also run scraps + water in vitamix blender and just pour it on the soil in the garden.
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Aug 2, 2015 6:13 PM CST
Name: Linda
Bellevue, WA (Zone 8a)
I should mention that I have LOADS of worms in my soil. I started with rocky clay 15 years ago

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