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Long before it became a buzz word, I grew up with the idea of composting. Never have I needed to add fertiliser to anything I grew. Left to itself, new arable soil grows only at a rate of a single centimetre a century or longer: but over a relatively few years, leaves and grass clippings and the vegetable kitchen scraps have created a beautiful black soil which plants and worms (and robins!) love.

In some ways, coffee grounds are a particularly easy method to restore soil, especially heavy clay soil, because in a pinch, coffee grounds can bypass the compost box entirely. Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements, which plants such as azaleas and rosebushes soak up eagerly when it is mixed with the soil or used as a light mulch. (Houseplants enjoy this as well.) Mix a little orange peel with the grounds, and you have a natural repellant for the neighbourhood cats. Carrot seeds have much the same effect ... at least, until they begin to sprout.

Since coffee grounds are so nitrogen-rich, they will produce ammonia, which is what creates the smell sometimes associated with compost. Small amounts will dissipate unnoticeably or quickly be taken up by plants, but larger amounts should be balanced by adding more carbon-rich materials, such as autumn leaves, to your compost.

Remember, as part of their natural activity, compost piles can get hot! In fire-prone areas, it might be wise to turn all your compost into the soil before fire season begins; or, alternately, to focus solely on vermi composters, where earthworms do most of the composting work instead of bacteria. As every seasoned fisherman knows, earthworms thrive in damp coffee grounds.

So raise a cup of coffee to your garden! Good health, to both!

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