coffee psalm

[MacBean]

(compeltely railroading this important thread) - 200lbs of grinds a day is a lot, and not an easy lift. How do you transport them, and tell me about your compost approach. I'm interested!

But to stay on topic... I never drank coffee until I moved in with an old friend who'd grown up in Lebanon. He showed me the True Way of Arabian Coffee. He put a couple of spoons of coffee and two more of sugar into a pot with water and brought it to a boil, then decanted the liquor into cups. I tried it at home. Two weeks later I went to the doctor because I'd developed a nervous tic in one eye that I couldn't stop! I've been decafeinated for a year and five months now, but once or twice a year enjoy a caffeinated capuccino on a Saturday morning (not wanting to link caffeine to work). I actually find I have more energy at the end of the day witout caffeine.

[Old Hippie]

(compeltely railroading this important thread) - 200lbs of grinds a day is a lot, and not an easy lift. How do you transport them, and tell me about your compost approach. I'm interested!.

Simple -- we distribute 19L buckets to the various outlets, and exchange them every day. Six buckets a day at present, soon to be around nine as another outlet is opening up to take advantage of the demand. (Many students give up after spending 15 minutes standing in line.) Some days it's heavier than others. Fridays are lighter because fewer students are on campus and two of the shops close at 3:00.

The coffee goes in a pile with the 500-1200 pounds of spent brewer's grain I pick up every week, whence it gets nice and hot and generates a nice dark compost. We also rely on compost worms, and the pile also gets shredded paper and manure and food scraps. I'm starting to "line out" the pile so I can turn over the older stuff with the front-end loader. Some of it should be ready for this spring.

The downside of all this is that I no longer wear a kilt to campus -- shifting that much wet coffee and grain is not a cleanly endeavour, nor does the wind treat me kindly when I am balanced on the back bumper of the truck, leaning over to put a bucket down!