5 lbs of espresso from Starbucks? free?

well, sort of. While hubby pumped gas, I went next door to see if our local Starbucks had any grounds for gardeners. Their bin was empty, so I asked the baristas if they happened to have any spent coffee grounds behind the counter. They said, "you picked the right time, we have 3 people that come by in the mornings." No wonder my previous attempts have been unsuccessful. They handed me a bag that was much bigger than I expected and said,"fresh espresso grounds, just for you." I slung the bag over my shoulder and sauntered back up the hill to our car, giggling like a kid at Christmas. I must confess, I was a little thrilled at beating the "regulars" to the punch and taking part of their stash. Not very Christ-like, I know. But seriously, if the stuff is good enough for gardens for there to be regular coffee ground collectors, then finding the perfect time to collect the treasure must be an accomplishment of some sort!

My front flower bed now smells like coffee. Good thing I love the scent! I also dumped a bunch of grounds into my veggie pots and flower pots.

If you think I'm a lunatic for putting coffee grounds on my plants, do an internet search for coffee as a fertilizer... and rumor has it, it helps keep slugs off hostas, too! And it's not poisonous!!!

... oh.. I meant to say 5 gallons. You heard me right. I dumped the grounds from their trash bag into a 5-gallon bucket. It was almost completely full. I think my tiny garden will be set for a while.