This article is written by one of our members, Gilbert West.
Every Tuesday, I volunteer at Sandside Community Garden at the end of Sunderries Road. Before heading to the garden, I get my trailer out of the shed, hook it up to my bike and set off in the complete opposite direction from the garden.
In the hour before the garden opens at 10am, I do a circuit of four cafés collecting the previous week’s coffee grounds so that I can mix them into the compost heaps at the community garden.
My round takes me to:
- Frothy Bike on the Whitesands (also a bike shop)
- Mrs Green’s in town (next door to a bike shop)
- Snaq at the QoS Arena
- and the community cafe at the YMCA in Lochside (the former Lochside primary school)
Collecting the grounds for composting avoids them going into landfill, cutting down on food waste and it gives Sandside Community Garden a regular supply of materials for composting in addition to the usual garden waste. Doing so on a bike helps cut down on traffic and there are no issues with parking so I can easily get the whole run done in an hour.
Things I learned about riding with a trailer
It doesn’t take long to get used to riding with a trailer, but here’s what I learned in my first few trips out:
- Ride slower or pay the consequences
- The trailer handles much better and is less noisy when it weighed down by the load of the grounds
- Trailers can tip on weird slopes as you rejoin a flat surface
- Trailers are a talking point. People stop you and want to ask about the trailer
- Pull out much further than usual before making those tight turns. I haven’t yet encountered anywhere on my normal routes that I can’t negotiate. The only change to routes I have made is that I no longer go over Devorgilla Bridge due to the steps on the town side.
Myths about coffee and compost
Aren’t coffee beans acidic and therefore no good for composting? This is bit of a myth that hangs around because the industry describe coffee’s taste in terms of acidity. Ground coffee that has been brewed is almost pH neutral. The acidity leaves the bean and goes into the cup during the brewing process.
Coffee grounds are actually great for adding to compost. The kind of grounds you usually get from cafes have been compressed in espresso machines. This means they are dense, so they weigh down the green cuttings and weeds, they help build up heat in the compost heap and they are grainy so they don’t have to break down much to add great texture to your compost.
Fertilisers are given and NPK score which shows how much Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) in the fertiliser. Coffee grounds do well with a score around 2.1 0.3 0.3. They also contain manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, calcium and zinc all of which are great for your soil. Like all things that you add to your compost, you should do it in layers. E.g. a layer of cardboard, grass cuttings, weeds, coffee grounds. Rinse and repeat.
As with all myths and misconceptions, there’s usually a grain of truth. If you do want to add some acidity to your soil e.g. for growing blueberries, unbrewed ground coffee beans will give you the soil acidity you need, but it’s a waste of good coffee and not the most cost effective way to do that.
What happens with all the compost?
Sandside Community Garden is about 3 acres situated in a wood near the Nith. There are a number of raised beds and a polytunnel which can all benefit from the compost we’re making.
It’s usually open 10am to 4pm on a Tuesday and often at other times. Pop in for a visit.
If you see me on my rounds one Tuesday morning say hello and next time you visit one of the four participating cafes, remember, the beans that made your cup of coffee have a life beyond the bin.
Cycling Dumfries 