Terry: Coffee grounds, tea bags, ashes good for plants
In this era of recycling, upcycling and being green, a good place to start is with your morning coffee.
Save those coffee grounds to throw on your compost pile. The grounds decompose and add nitrogen to newly made "soil." They are on the acidic side, but good for azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries and many other plants that like their soil a bit sour.
Though most of us would not use raw coffee grounds, that is not recommended since they are too acidic. It would seem that after brewing, boiling or steaming, most of the acid would be gone, but there is some controversy over that. The latest I have heard is that the grounds remain acidic.
If you compost leaves and other plant material, add the coffee grounds and turn the compost pile to mix them in. However, it is suggested that only about 10 percent of your compost be the grounds, giving the other material a chance to decompose and neutralize.
If you use a Keurig or other one-cup coffee machine, the chances for recycling are less. The cup's material, as yet, is not biodegradable, though the companies are working on it. There are single-use, strainer-like cups that open at the top to spoon in your own choice of grounds, which you can dump out later into the compost.
Tea, too, is good to drink and good for your plants. Tea leaves may actually speed up the decomposition of your compost pile. The tannic acid in tea appears to give a bit of zest to the plants as it does to the tea drinker.
However, the bags may be a problem. Most bags are made of material that does not break up easily. If you throw your tea bags into the compost, you may be picking them out later as you use the compost, but then again, this may be just a minor inconvenience.
Cooled tea used to water your plants, inside and out, is good, too, just don't overdo it as it is nitrogen-high. Using a tea bag over the planting hole in a pot is an excellent idea, I think, as it keeps the water from running out too fast and spreads its good components throughout the potting soil.
Many times I have been asked about using wood ash in the garden or around shrubs and plants. If you are an active wood-burning fireplace lover, did you know that a cord of wood can create 50 pounds of ashes? That's a lot to dispose of, so perhaps lining the edges of your garden with them would help to keep slugs and snails at bay.
Wood ash used in the garden can help to neutralize acidic soil. It is composed of potassium, lime and many other nutrients because it comes from a natural source. Some of its use may depend on the type of wood you burn. Hardwoods, such as oak, contain more nutrients than soft woods such as pine.
When planting tomatoes this year, try throwing in a fourth cup of ash if you have it, in each hole.
It's good fertilizer and good recycling.
It is important to have your garden soil analyzed, perhaps not yearly, but that depends on what you have been growing and what you have used as amendments. You can contact the Johnson County Extension Office to set you up with the test needed.
If you are interested in the type of soil you have, here is a way to check. Take a quart mason jar and fill it with soil from your garden. Then fill it with water, cap it and shake vigorously. Set it aside for at least a week. You should see the lighter humus at the top, clay in the middle and sand at the bottom. This should help you know how to amend your soil.
Judy Terry is a freelance garden writer. Questions or comments should be sent to her at Iowa City Press-Citizen, P.O. Box 2480, Iowa City, IA 52244-2480; faxed to 834-1083; or emailed to firstname.lastname@example.org.