I decided to do [...]]]> Sometimes it is difficult to know how to make a difference. From the cars we drive to the food we eat and the fabrics we wear, each choice has a wide range of variation in how it impacts the environment, and keeping tabs of this can be exhausting.

I decided to do something that had an immediate and beneficial impact on the environment, cost me nothing, and made my favourite pastime of vegetable gardening even more satisfying.

Since March 2010, I have collected 850 Kilos of used coffee grounds, and it has all been used in my compost bin, dug into the raised garden beds, around the base of fruit trees, liberally sprinkled over the lawn, or handed out to family and neighbours.

You might think that coffee grounds are a weird thing to want to put into the garden, but if we go through some of the environmental benefits and physical properties of the material, it quickly makes sense why it is catching on. As the hundreds of YouTube videos attest to, you can’t keep a good secret these days.

Availability

Approximately 20 grams of coffee grounds remains every time an espresso machine is used, which is then typically thrown into the bin, and ends up in landfill.

20 grams might not seem like a big amount, until you consider that 5000 lattes work out to about 1 tonne of used grounds. Imagine all the people that stop into a cafe or use an espresso machine at home at least once a day. All those hundreds of thousands of drinks make for many tonnes of landfill each and every day.

Given there is so much of the stuff being generated, availability is not an issue. Most cafe owners would be more than happy to put some coffee grounds aside for you if you ask. One chain that actively provides this service is Starbucks, who have an initiative known as ‘Grounds for your Garden’, and if you have been in their stores over the past five years may have noticed a stack of 2 kilo bags sitting in a basket at the front of the counter.

Another way to get supply, and one of the things I do, is to arrange to collect coffee grounds generated at work. My building has at least 5 espresso machines which are emptied daily, and all the used grounds are left for me in a room in the basement car park. It took a couple of tries to get the process working, but now I’m collecting around 100 Kilos per week, thanks to all my colleagues and their love of coffee.

What is in Coffee Grounds?

There will always be variation with a natural product, and the specific contents of coffee grounds can change slightly depending on the specific origin of the beans, how they were roasted, ground, and used in the espresso machine (including the water that was used).

Nitrogen is an abundant element in our atmosphere and when converted to a solid form is readily used by plants. Coffee grounds have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20 – 24:1, which is about the same as grass clippings.

The relatively high nitrogen content makes coffee grounds a ‘green’ addition to the compost bin, and a great offset against high carbon ‘brown’ additions such as leaves (60:1), straw (75:1), and cardboard (350:1).

Much of the nitrogen within coffee grounds is of a type that must first break down in the soil before the plants are able to make use of it, which makes the grounds just like a slow release fertilizer when put directly into the soil, providing ongoing nitrogen input into the garden.

Used coffee grounds are slightly acidic, with a range typically between 6.9pH and 6.2pH. It would be higher except that most of the acid within the beans is extracted during brewing.

For many vegetable and ornamental plants, the desirable pH range is 6.9 to 5.8. A pH level of 7.0 is considered neutral, and from there it is increasing in alkalinity.

Coffee grounds contain phosphorus and potassium (which with Nitrogen completes the macronutrients required for all plant growth), and includes magnesium (a secondary nutrient) and copper (a micronutrient), in sufficient quantities that you will not need to get these from other sources.

Impact on animal life – to deter or attract

In learning about organic gardening, I have come across a large number of traditional methods for controlling garden pests. If for example, I make a solution of soap, garlic, chilli, and water to deter aphids, then that’s one less bottle of chemical poison in the environment. Coffee grounds have long been used in gardens because of their impact in controlling pests.

When applied to the soil, coffee grounds will deter snails and slugs, which are affected by even trace elements of caffeine, and I have heard but not confirmed that they don’t like travelling over the course grounds. I have seen a dramatic reduction in snails and slugs since using coffee grounds in the soil. If you have them in plague proportions and the above is not effective, you might want to try fresh coffee grounds, before the caffeine has been extracted.

I have seen a similar reduction with ants, and although not as troublesome as snails and slugs, they can prove damaging to seeds and seedlings when in large numbers. Having a layer of coffee grounds acts as a barrier that ants will not readily cross, and while the effects are not as long lasting as the chemical ant barriers, they do not contain all the poisons either, and it is no trouble putting down more grounds once the first lot has broken down.

Although I have never had a problem with cats in the garden, there is some evidence to suggest that they do not like the smell of coffee grounds and will prefer to keep away from it.

One creature that does love coffee grounds is perhaps the most beneficial to the garden, these being earthworms. From my own experience and from many others, they love the stuff, are attracted to it, and your soil will be healthier as a result. This applies just as much to the worm farm as it does to applying it directly into the garden. Worms of all types will be more productive as a result.

Preparing your own soil

A gardener once told me that he didn’t feed plants, he fed the soil which feeds the plants.

As long as you have good quality soil, you will have more healthy and productive plants. In addition to the result it brings to the garden, there is a great deal of satisfaction in returning a good percentage of our ‘garbage’ back into the earth.

When added to your compost bin or heap, coffee grounds will raise those internal temperatures, which speeds up decomposition, and the end result will be beautiful, black, rich compost. The most common ingredients I use for compost now are kitchen scraps (no meat or pineapple and limited citrus), shredded cardboard and paper, coffee grounds, leaves and twigs, and any edible plants no longer being productive.

I would recommend limiting the use of coffee grounds in the worm farm or compost bin to about 25% of the total volume. The reason being is that you need a balance of ingredients with most recipes, and this is no different.

If you would rather use liquid fertilisers, add half a kilo of coffee grounds into a bucket with 10 litres or so of water, let the mixture warm up to ambient temperature, swish it all around and then apply directly onto your plants.

I have heard that this works particularly well with roses, camellias, azaleas, gardenias, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and blueberries.

There is one final benefit; your garden will carry the aroma of freshly prepared coffee for sometime after being applied!

Ground to Ground

If you are around Centre Rd Bentleigh in Victoria, a cafe by the name of Bent Espresso has a large bin of coffee grounds behind the counter. I normally take the whole lot home, and would be thrilled for you to take as much of it as you can.

You may also notice that they have a logo stuck onto their espresso machine with the title ‘Ground for Ground’.  The logo is included in this article and you are welcome to make a copy and hand out to as many cafes as are interested. The intention is to make it easier to ask (I know from experience it can difficult asking for something they only ever throw in with the rest of the rubbish), and easier for them to give. Having the logo displayed means they understand, and want to make a difference also.

If you are in Australia and need help getting some stickers, you can email me and I’ll post some out to you (shanegenziuk@gmail.com).

If you are already collecting coffee grounds, hopefully something has been covered here that is new to you, and for those of you that are yet to try it, hopefully this is an opportunity you can share with us, to make a tangible difference to our environment, and our gardens.

Cheers – Shane Genziuk

Hi Mick, Hope all is going well out your way.  The cool change has certainly been welcomed.

I would like to utilize Warrandyte Chat to let people beyond FOWSP know about a Blue Banded Bee project we are starting at the nursery.  We are [...]]]> From Linda Rogan of FOWSP (Friends of Warrandyte State Park):

Hi Mick,
Hope all is going well out your way.  The cool change has certainly been
welcomed.

I would like to utilize Warrandyte Chat to let people beyond FOWSP know
about a Blue Banded Bee project we are starting at the nursery.  We are
making nesting blocks for these bees that dig holes in the ground in order
to nest.  It will be very helpful if we can acquire some material from
current Blue Banded Bees nests to rub on the bricks and attract the bees
with the smell of others.  They are nearby as they do visit many of the
flowers in the nursery. I have been told that it is not uncommon for these
bees to next in the walls of mud brick houses.  My plea is that anyone who
is aware of Blue Banded Bees or other native bees on their porperty, contact
me if they are happy for me to come and take a little of the material (just
the loose diggings and frass) for our project.  I have attached a photo of
the bee so people will know what they are looking for.

Thanks,
Linda

I live in Warrandyte and work as ranger at Warrandyte State Park. I make my videos for fun, and fly RC helicopters as a hobby. I have done some filming with my Helicopter for work. I created a presentation showing the parks and reserves that we manage [...]]]> Thanks to Justin for submitting this

I live in Warrandyte and work as ranger at Warrandyte State Park. I make my videos for fun, and fly RC helicopters as a hobby.
I have done some filming with my Helicopter for work.
I created a presentation showing the parks and reserves that we manage for my ranger in charge to use. I have also been asked to capture aerial images
of an Aboriginal eel trap on the Yarra River in Eltham to help establish its authenticity.

My early videos were raw and of poor quality due to the equipment I was using and my lack of flying skill.
I endeavour to produce a HD video in the near future and I desire to do some commercial type projects.

The video you watched was filmed mostly in Warrandyte but featured scenes from Christmas Hills, Williamstown, Wonga Park, Rosebud, Torquay and Melbourne.

Proudly presented by

Kinglake Action Network & Development Organisation (KANDO)

and Permaculture Kinglake Ranges

DATE:              Sunday 8th November VENUE:            Kinglake Temporary Village Hall, [...]]]>

A F T E R   T H E   F I R E S

Re-Designing and Re-Building Resilient Communities

Proudly presented by

Kinglake Action Network & Development Organisation (KANDO)

and Permaculture Kinglake Ranges

DATE:              Sunday 8^th November

VENUE:            Kinglake Temporary Village Hall, Heidelberg-Kinglake Road, Kinglake

TIME:               10am – 5pm

COST:              Voluntary donation to cover speaker costs and future Forums on bushfire resilient communities.

10am – 12pm Designing for resilience

• Phil Gall is an architect, landscape architect and permaculture designer.

12-1.15pm Lunch

1.15pm – 2.45pm Field Trip

• Dr Kevin Tolhurst will look at the local factors contributing to the intensity of Black Saturday bushfires and vegetation recovery.

3.15pm – 4.15pm Reducing the risk of bushfire

• Dr. Kevin Tolhurst is Senior Lecturer in Fire Ecology and Management at the University of Melbourne and adviser to CFA & DSE officers.

The tragedy of Victoria’s ‘Black Saturday’ bushfire is highly likely to be repeated unless there are attitude changes whereby people take greater personal responsibility for fire preparedness. The Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission’s interim report released 17.8.09 with [...]]]> A ‘Community Fire Safety Maturity Grid’ could be the answer!

By Kelvin Blackney MASSE, FSIA, RSP (Aust)

The tragedy of Victoria’s ‘Black Saturday’ bushfire is highly likely to be repeated unless there are attitude changes whereby people take greater personal responsibility for fire preparedness.
The Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission’s interim report released 17.8.09 with 51 recommendations http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Interim-Report is intended to be implemented before the 2009/10 bushfire season.
If the recommendations are put into practice, there’s no doubt Victoria will be better prepared than on February 7 2009.
An area of concern, however is with Recommendation 7.2 that calls for more useful advice being given to people within bushfire prone areas and the CFA give consideration as to how it should advise residents about the defendability of their homes.
The Safety Institute’s National Technical Panel made the point in its submission to the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission on 18.5.09 that: “Consideration should be given to how a positive community fire safety culture can be developed in Victoria. Read the Full Article on page 4 of the SIAWA Oct 09 Journal

But this is no ordinary plot this is a technological wonder known as a ‘wicked bed’ (pronounced wickt rather than wick-ed).  I am thankful to an article [...]]]> As part of my drive towards sustainability, making use of our bit of land and getting fit (see Mick’s Eco-Gym) I have been creating a ‘veggie patch’.

But this is no ordinary plot this is a technological wonder known as a ‘wicked bed’ (pronounced wickt rather than wick-ed).  I am thankful to an article from the Alternative Technology Association for the  design.  The design is based on having a 50mm reservoir of water across the whole area and beats traditional beds in that

• It is very water efficient – evaporation from the surface is much reduced
• The plants have a constant supply of water – even through the hottest days
• Watering is simple matter of adding water through a pipe at one end – no spraying everywhere and hoping that you get sufficient to the plants
• You can add water in direct sunlight without the risk of leaf burn
• The plants get the right amount of water through a wicking action from the reservoir
• You cannot over water – as an overflow pipe allows excess water to drain away
• The construction stops tree roots from invading the bed
• Rabbit proofing is easier with the raised bed

Construction

I had decided to go for an ambitious start with a bed measuring 6 metres by 2.4 metres by 0.4 metres high (2 sleepers).  But, since the bed requires a level base for the water reservoir and we have a 15 degree slope this meant an awful lot of fill to get the level.  Fortunately I had the fill from the cut for the tank I had put in earlier.

The level needs to be within 25mm across the surface, it is worth spending some time to get it a near right as possible.

I created the frame using treated pine sleepers which I joined with simple butt joints and coach screws.

Builders heavy duty plastic membrane is is a perfect 3metres wide.  A single sheet creates the reservoir but you must be careful not to puncture it.  So I laid old carpet underlay of the compacted fill before putting down the membrane.
Another layer of old underlay went on top of the membrane.

Then it was time to create the reservoir which was done with gravel to an approximate depth of 50mm.  I filled the reservoir with water and got a final level on the gravel, making sure that there was at least 50mm of gravel/water at all points over the bed. Notice the overflow pipe fitted just above the normal water level.

The final and very important layer was now put on which was old carpet. This forms a barrier which stops the soil dropping down into the gravel/water reservoir but allows water to be carried up into the soil  above.

Last task before loading in the soil was to put a 90mm water filling pipe  in the corner vertically and just raised over the top of the soil level.  I made a mistake here by not putting this pipe through the carpet which significantly slows the rate at which I can re-fill the bed.

The 6 cubic metres of quality soil then needed to be loaded in and leveled.

Young Phil gave a hand to level and we celebrated completion by planting some Royal Blue potatoes.

Of course, all local gardners know the problem that anything growing tender new shoots becomes a treat for rabbits, posums and parrots.  The wicked bed was secured against invaders with a wooden frame, chiken wire and vine netting.

Planting

To date my wicked veggie patch is has been planted with a variety of heirloom seeds from Send-Me-Seeds-Pip
including kale, beans, beetroot, snow peas, rocket, squash, courgettes, shallots, broccoli, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, and spinach.

Last week I pulled the first potato (too early) but with some salad leaves from the patch we had our first home grown WICKED POTATO SALAD – we are looking forward to a summer of home grown salads and veggies

On Friday 16 October, Dick Davies, President of the Warrandyte Community Association, was interviewed by Jon Faine at about 1030am. Coverage was also included in The World Today program between 12 and 1pm.

You can read the transcript or listen to the item on The World Today program by going to:

(Crn Yarra St & Mitchell Ave)

Doors open at 7:30pm

[...]]]>

North Warrandyte CFA Fundraising Gig

featuring local band the DDT’s & other special guest performers

Help us build our new fire station

1) The Kevin Tolhurst presentation from the WCA Meeting in July is now available to view at: http://www.warrandytechat.com/dr-tolhurst-videos/ After logging in you can either download the video in parts from the site or order the DVD at a nominal charge of $5 to cover costs. The whole video lasts about 2 [...]]]> Dear Warrandyte Resident,

1) The Kevin Tolhurst presentation from the WCA Meeting in July is now available to view at: http://www.warrandytechat.com/dr-tolhurst-videos/ After logging in you can either download the video in parts from the site or order the DVD at a nominal charge of $5 to cover costs. The whole video lasts about 2 hours and also includes previous presentations by Professor David Karoly and Dr Tolhurst of the University of Melbourne from April 09.

2) The WCA participated in a Township Protection Plan (TPP) meeting with representatives from Nillumbik Shire, Manningham City Council, the CFA, Victoria Police, and VicRoads. The Warrandyte & North Warrandyte TPP is currently being developed and follow-up meetings are planned to review the final draft and to publicize the TPP when completed.

3) The Warrandyte Community Association Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 8th October at the Warrandyte Community Centre in Yarra Street. It will be followed at 8.00pm by a public forum with our State Members of Parliament.

Regards,

Bruce Davidson

Secretary

Warrandyte Community Association

www.warrandyte.org.au