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The Wonders of Coffee

We all have our vices, mine is COFFEE!!! Few things are as wonderful in the morning as a fresh brewed cup of coffee and a toasted english muffin with homemade raspberry jelly – yummmm! Or on a cold rainy afternoon, just the smell of it warms me. OK I love the stuff!

Most people are aware of the benefits of using spent coffee grounds on the soil. Applied directly on the garden as a fertilizer, they add organic material to the soil – which improves drainage, water retention and aeration. The used coffee grounds also attract earthworms and help the soil-borne microorganisms that are beneficial to plant growth.

In the compost pile, used coffee grounds provide a rich source of nitrogen. Coffee, the gift that keeps on giving!

cat-on-litter-boxSo when my mother-in-law told me that adding fresh (not brewed) coffee grounds helps keep kitty litter smelling fresh for days or even a week longer than without, I balked… “Wait! What?” Waste this elixir of life on cat litter?

Necessity dictates… I didn’t have any fresh litter to add to the boxes after scooping one day. And what was in the boxes smelled… a bit pungent! I couldn’t get to the store until the next day, so I bit the bullet and gave one up for the team. After scooping out the solids I added about a pot’s worth of dry coffee grounds and gave the box a little stir. Well, color me flabbergasted! The effect was immediate. No offensive odor at all!

I did get litter the next day, but I decided to see just how long the coffee grounds would last.

After 3 days I just plain had to abandon my experiment. I needed to scrub the boxes and start with all fresh litter. Even after 3 days though the coffee was still working great.

Now when I start with fresh litter I also add 1/4 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup fresh coffee grounds. I am able to scoop the box without adding any fresh litter for a week. I have 4 cats, so that’s really saying something.

Even if you don’t drink coffee, there are so many uses for the grounds around the house that it pays to keep a can handy. And you never know when company will show up!


Thanks to LunnaKitty3 for participating in the [Grow] Network Writing Contest.

We have over $2,097 in prizes lined up for the Fall 2015 Writing Contest, including all of the following:

– A 21.5 quart pressure canner from All American, a $382 value
– A Survival Still emergency water purification still, a $288 value
– 1 free 1 year membership in the [Grow] Network Core Community, a $239 value
– A Worm Factory 360 vermicomposting system from Nature’s Footprint, a $128 value
– 2 large heirloom seed collections from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, valued at $103 each
– A Metro-Grower Elite sub-irrigation growing container from Nature’s Footprint, a $69 value
– 2 copies of the complete Home Grown Food Summit, valued at $67 each
– 3 free 3 month memberships in the [Grow] Network Core Community, valued at $59 each
– 4 copies of the Grow Your Own Groceries DVD video set, valued at $43 each
– A Bug Out Seed Kit from the Sustainable Seed Company, a $46 value
– 4 copies of the Alternatives To Dentists DVD video, valued at $33 each
– 4 copies of the Greenhouse of the Future DVD and eBook, valued at $31 each

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