Plant Gardens 101

I was at the local Starbucks Coffee shop and noticed an interesting thing…Near the door, one of the staff was placing used coffee bags (the silver ones that hold the beens) in the basket. Curiosity got the better of me so I asked about it.

In each bag there is roughly 5 lb of used coffee grounds. and are free for the taking. So I took 2 bags home and added them to my compost. coffee grounds are great for composts.

More info on this: http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp

I also found out another use, since it is relitively starile (Brewed coffee), you can use it as a organic substrate for Oyster Mushroom. Simply find a plastic container, place a 4 to inch layer on the bottom of coffee grinds fresh from Starbuck. Moisture is key here. Buy a few Oyster mushroom from the local store (about 15-30 cents worth will do), Chop the Oyster mushroom in to tiny pieces, the smaller the better. Sprincle the chopped Oyster mushroom onto the coffee grinds, and cover with some coffee grounds so that you nolonger se white specks. Stor Plastic container in a cool dark spot.

Every couple of says, sprits some water from a spray bottle to keep the surface moist. In about 2 weeks you will see white fuss show up, thats ok, the mushroom are growing. In 4 more weeks you should have your first harvest of Oyster Mushroom.

The price of Oyster Mushroom is roughly $7.99 per lb. I personall love mushrooms and I spend lots of money on them, If this works, I will try some other moshroom types in the same manner.

I will keep you posted

PlantGardens101