When we think about keeping our pantry full of nutritious food, too often, we neglect to include non-essential items like coffee and tea. When I say ‘non-essential’, naturally I mean things we can do without if we had to. Now, when you think about all the food stuffs and drinks and all that we use everyday that are ‘non-essential’, well, that covers a lot good stuff. Coffee is one of them.
Thing of it is, for me, my morning cup of coffee is essential. It’s more of an afternoon habit for the missus, but we both enjoy and look forward to our coffee fixes. Now imagine that the power’s gone and it won’t be coming back on until whoknows-when. What next?
Well, let me restate my position just a little bit. Could I get by without my morning java? ‘Course I could. I’ve done it many times before.
But the larger point is that when you’re off grid and it looks like that’s the thing will be for a good long while, all of us want – and need – to feel like we still have something to look forward to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, from a psychological standpoint, the little things that bring us pleasure are a key part of performing well under pressure for an extended period of time. For a lot of folks, coffee and cigarettes would play a big part in that.
Fortunately, I don’t smoke (I used to when I was young and stupid). But not only does coffee give millions of people a much needed jolt in the morning, but it just so happens that after you’re had your coffee, those used coffee ground have just a bunch of uses that will come in very handy in an off-grid situation.
I’ve made a list of some of more useful purposes for used coffee grounds, but I’m sure I’ll some along the way. Feel free to email uses you’ve found for coffee grounds that I’ve not mentioned below!
1. Mix them into your compost pile – The easiest way to put spent coffee grounds to good use is to add them to your compost pile. It give it a needed boost of nitrogen, which speeds up the composting process.
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2. Plant food – Coffee grounds are acidic, which makes them a great soil amendment for blueberries, roses, hydrangeas, and other acid-loving plants.
3. Grow mushrooms – People aren’t the only creatures to love coffee. Mushrooms do too. If you’re growing mushrooms, mix the coffee grounds into the growing medium.
4. Give your worms a kick – Worms do really well with coffee grounds. The grit of the ground helps their digestion and worms tend to reproduce faster with coffee, which helps your soil.
5. Pest control – Put coffee grounds where you want to repel ants, snails, or slugs.
6. Prepare food with coffee – Coffee ground make a great meat rub. Add it to marinades, too. Add a cup of coffee to stews and soups; you won’t believe how good it tastes. Most coffees go well with citrus, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, garlic and salt.
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7. Hand deodorizer – Rub coffee grounds on your hands after handling fish, garlic or other stuff that has a serious odor to it.
9. Make soap – Coffee grounds make a terrific soap that exfoliates and deodorizes. See the link below for a coffee soap recipe I found online that’s easy to follow:
► How to Make Homemade Natural Soap
10. Coffee scrub – Mix the grounds with a bit of coconut oil for a very effective bath scrub. In an off-grid situation, smelling nice and clean can be a big attitude booster.
11. Hair rinse – Like the scrub, coffee hair treatment can make your dark hair shiny and clean, with highlights. It might darken blond hair a bit, but feeling clean is worth it!
12. A powerful dye – Coffee grounds (and coffee) work well for dying clothes, using as a paint for creative art or even a stain for light woods.
13. Root Veggie food – Mix coffee grounds with root veggie seeds, especially carrots. It will help them grow healthy. It will also help keep pests away from your carrots.
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14. Pin cushion filling – Use dry coffee grounds to fill homemade pin cushions.
15. Coffee candles – Add the grounds to your homemade candles. (I’ll be talking about DIY candle making in a future edition.)
16. Ash control for fireplace cleaning – When the embers have cooled, put damp coffee grounds all over the ashes. Wait about 15 minutes. The coffee grounds will stick to the ashes, keeping the dust down to a minimum as you scoop it all out.
17. Furniture scratch repair – Make scratches on wood furniture go away fast. Just rub some coffee grounds with coffee dampened into a paste with hot water. Keep doing it until the stain matches the color.
