Coffee Grounds and Flowers From My Childhood

I love lazy sunny weekends! I guess my body clock’s used to waking up early that I’m up and about at 7AM after ‘sleeping in’.

With no plans til after lunch, D and I figured we could go out for coffee and pick up the boys’ dogfood on the way. We headed to the neighborhood starbucks for a Java Chip frap, and I kindly asked the friendly barista if she could spare me some coffee grounds for our compost. She smiled at me and said “Sure!” I was more excited about this than my cold drink.

Reusing coffee grounds for the backyard garden helps reduce landfill waste – my own way of saving the earth. As the coffee’s acidity is lost during the brewing process, what it leaves behind in the material of the coffee grounds helps promote plant growth, repels slugs and ants and entices earthworms which help the soil become richer. At home, we mix the coffee grounds with brown compost (dried leaves and twigs, or brown paper bag cuttings) for balance.

Oh, and to add to the excitement, we happened to pass by these flowers on our way to the car. They remind me of my gradeschool days, when I would make bubbles from the gumamela flowers. I saw that done in Batibot, the Philippines’ version of Sesame Street.