This week we had a chat with David Stephen, as he busied himself at the local Picnic Basket cafe. He is a gardener extraordinaire and has been experimenting with growing vegetables for many years. David's latest area of interest is coffee grounds, which according to him are better for the garden than blood and bone. He is currently helping the cafe to compost their food scraps, including coffee grounds and egg shells on site and now hosts a mini community garden, sustained by the compost he produces. 

David has done a lot of research and experimentation and says that the beauty of coffee grounds and eggs shells is that they provide a fantastic spread of slow release nutrients, giving the vegetables just what they need to grow strong and sweet. He uses them in community and school gardens and to top dress lawns. He also puts a generous dusting of coffee grounds over the new food scraps to keep away the rats, which are famous for their love of food waste. Unlike us, they don't like the smell or taste of coffee!

Through Carrotmob Hobart, we are trying to encourage cafes to switch to compostable packaging, which although can't be composted in a home composting system, are better for the environment overall. We love seeing examples of businesses going that one step further and thinking about other ways they can act to reduce their environmental impact. Join us as we help people drive the changes they want to see in their community.