Views from Raven's Nest: Daily Reminder # 598

Tonight's reminder is frivolous be I think interesting. I've stolen this information from something I got through Care2.com, one of my favorite places in cyber space. Here it is from it's original source as provided by someone named Chris Carl. He offers us 27 interesting uses for coffee grounds.

In other news, Tara is doing well and Angel and I are surviving me giving her antibiotics twice a day. Her foot seems to be healing and my basic worry item that the claw would become ingrown seems to be just another thing I spend energy worrying about for no reason. Anyway, here's the list.

Uses for coffee in the home

1. Skip the toxic abrasive cleaners for pots and pans and use a handful of coffee grounds instead.

2. Scour (non-porcelain) sinks with coffee grounds.

3. Clean old food off of dishes. Be aware not to use coffee grounds on materials that might be absorbent or porous so that you don’t end up with brown stains.

4. Scrub your grill or electric griddle.

5. Coffee grounds can also be used as a deodorizer. Place grounds in a jar or dish to absorb odors from refrigerators and freezers.

6. Leave a dish of coffee grounds out to absorb odors in rooms that have an unpleasant odor.

7. Deodorize a car that may have had one too many fast-food items left in it.

8. Place a layer of grounds in your ashtrays to greatly reduce the stench of old cigarette butts.

9. Rub on hands to remove food prep odors.

10. Use wet grounds when cleaning your fireplace or wood stove to keep the dust and ash from flying. You could also use wet grounds for the same purpose in a pellet stove, but take care to not allow the burn pot to get clogged, so I would use very sparingly in this case.

11. Use coffee grounds for natural ant control. Place dried grounds in the areas ants frequent. The smell is a deterrent.

12. Dye paper, fabrics, or other porous materials with a strong coffee solution.

13. Cover up scratches in furniture. Dab a strong solution of coffee onto the scratch. Naturally, this works best on darker woods.

Uses for coffee in the garden

14. Use coffee grounds as a non-toxic, fully degradable fertilizer. Coffee grounds are a good source of nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium and other trace minerals. While you need to be aware that not all plants love coffee, such as tomatoes, most are enriched by the added nutrients.

15. Coffee grounds are an excellent nutritional addition to compost.

16. Use as a non-toxic bug repellant. Use a solution of coffee to spray your plants. The smell is too strong for most bugs. You’ll need to re-apply after a rain.

17. Use coffee grounds to keep cats from digging and pooping in your garden. Not only are cat feces bad for your plants, I personally hate the experience of accidentally scooping some up with my hands while gardening.

18. Use coffee grounds to deter slugs and snails. Both the smell and the abrasive surface help keep these pests out of the garden.

19. Coffee can add nutrients to acid-loving plants such as azaleas and roses. Simply pour any left-over coffee around the base of the plant. Hometalk, a home improvement social network, member John H. of Clermont, FL said, “Coffee is acidic. Roses flourish in soil with a pH around 6.5. Adding coffee will raise the pH.”

20. Kill ants outdoors too. Just place grounds on the hills.

A word on worms: they love coffee as much as we do. Theory suggests that besides the caffeine, the bacterium that grows on the many-sided grounds is not only a food source, but adds grit to their digestive system allowing them to digest better. Coffee-eating worms reproduce faster, which is great for oxygenating our gardens and compost. So, in terms of worms, you can:

21. Work grounds into the soil.

22. Place grounds into your compost.

23. Mix grounds and soil to help keep fishing bait alive longer.

24. Putting your bait worms in moist coffee grounds helps to mask human odor.

Uses for coffee as a beauty aid

25. Rub grounds through hair and rinse to add softness and shine.

26. Add highlights to brown hair by soaking in coffee.

27. Use grounds as a facial scrub or mask.

So drink up and enjoy the many benefits that come even after your cup is empty.

Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to train myself to believe in abundance, possibilities, and miracles, as well as to believe in my worthiness to desire and even HAVE things and to be happy (what a concept). It is also a prayer of sorts to the Universe to hear and respond.)