During the weekends I love to make and enjoy a big pot of coffee! Some mornings it is gone quite quickly but others there are cups of it leftover. In the past I just dumped it, but my now raised green conscience begs me to ask questions before I dump something down the sink, "Does this really need to be dumped?", "Can this be repurposed?" Tired of dumping coffee? Try these green tips!
Coffee is Excellent for Indoor and Outdoor Plants
Gardeners have known for ages that coffee contributes to healthy and successful plants. The grounds provide generous amounts of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, copper and nitrogen which plants love. Coffee grounds attract earth worms which are great for the garden especially for my clay dense soil and keep at bay ants and slugs. Lightly sprinkle coffee grounds around the base of your plants.
Some plants enjoy coffee's acidity more than others. Therefore here is a starter list of plants that enjoy acidic soil where leftover coffee and grounds are a great addition. Like anything we experiment with moderation is key, start slowly with small amounts. When using coffee dilute left over coffee with water first. My sister-in-law gave me a tip that plants love tea as well! So if you are not a coffee drinker we have got you covered.
- Some plants that like acidic soil are:
- Aloe Vera
- Rhododendrons
- Azaleas
- Begonias
- Lettuce
- Christmas Cactus (coffee known to make them bloom more)
- Pothos (great for air quality in the house and virtually indestructible)
- Philos
- Tomato plants
- Melons
- Carrots
- Strawberry, Raspberries, Blueberries
- Make adult popsicles - mix equal parts of sweetened condensed milk with coffee and pour into popsicle molds and freeze.
- Freeze leftover coffee into ice cubes - the cubes can be thrown into a blender to make yourself your favorite frozen drink
- such as a frappucino or iced cappucino. As the cubes melt, they won’t dilute your coffee flavour.
- Try making an Affogato al Caffe with leftover coffee or espresso.
- Instead of water use coffee when making a chocolate cake. I enjoy how the coffee darkens the cocoa making for a more complex flavorful mocha cake.
- Use it to rinse or scrub strong smells off your hands, like fish or garlic.
- Use instead of red wine in stews and beef dishes.
Affogato al Caffe Recipe:
1 comment:
This is really useful!
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