"Grounding" your plants

Don't have the space to compost but love healthy plants? Instead of adding those coffee grounds or used tea leaves to the landfill, just spread them around your acid-loving plants (roses, azaleas, blueberries etc.). Not only do the plants thrive on this nitrogen-rich stuff, it can help deter slugs and snails. (Many coffee shops have bins where they offer free coffee grounds to patrons.) Especially here in California, where the soils are typically highly alkaline, coffee grounds can improve both the quality and texture of the soil. If you DO have an area where you can create compost, all the better! I simply picked an out-of-the way spot, dug three holes, and started throwing all my kitchen waste (no animal products other than smashed eggshells), coffee/tea grounds, grass clippings, and garden waste into the first hole (occasionally supplemented with horse manure from a friend), turning it occasionally with a pitchfork and sprinkling it with the hose during the dry season. When that hole got full, I rotated the compost to the next hole and started a fresh batch in the first hole. But the time the first batch got rotated to the third hole and ripened there for a while, it was ready to use: rich, dark, and crumbly. My plants (including houseplants) LOVE the stuff! And I feel better about reducing the amount of household/yard waste going to the landfill. Try it; you and your plants will like it! (Check out the ChicoLaura web site: www.ChicoLaura.com )