Coffee grounds are a good soil amendment but aren't a well balanced fertilizer as they are primarily low dose nitrogen. So you can certainly use some but they can't be the sole source of nutrients and if mixed well into the soil you can plant right away but until they begin to decompose they won't be feeding the plants.

Personally I use lots of compost, composted manures worked in the previous fall, and tilled in ground covers. But none of those will work fast enough to be of any benefit to you nutrient-wise this year. Plan to apply them in the fall for next year.

You can also consider using any of the many organic meals for fertilizers such as cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, bone meal, etc. but again they have to have time to work in the soil before they are of benefit to the plants.

There are any number of well balanced organic fertilizers on the market that will supply all your plants' needs this year. Why not post over on the Organic Gardening forum here and ask for recommendations for quick fix types that will help you this year.

Dave

I would read up a bit on organic gardening.

I think the best value has been a good 50 pound bag of alfalfa pellets. I paid $10. prices vary around the country. You can mix into or on top of the ground or I like to soak it in water long enough to make the water turn to tea color.

Kitty litter clay is a good source of micro nutrients. a little can go a long way on top of the soil so water washes it down.

start making some compost.

last fall I picked up 30 bags of leaves from the neighbors. Those decay slow. I have them in a pile. But eventually they make a great soil. have to have patience with leaves. they are slow to decay unless you mix them with green stuff like grass.

You might price out some hay. best is water ruined hay that can not be fed to animals. much lower price. but great for gardens.

Here is a link that might be useful: this looks good

Wow gardenawgi! That is some excellent advice and I'm really excited about the alfalfa! Something I can afford :] How big was your garden and how much did you need? My gardening area will be 42 sq ft total. I also like the clay kitty litter idea! And thank you for the compost information as well!

Digdirt, thank you so much for the info on fertilizing! I'm starting a compost pile this spring so I'll have to put what I can on the garden this fall! :]

An organic grower recommended Neptune's Harvest (fish and kelp) to me as a good organic fertilizer. (I JUST got it so I can't report results from personal experience.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Neptune's Harvest

If you have a local feed store or a farm store chain of some kind you will usually find alfalfa meal to be even less expensive than alfalfa pellets plus the meal doesn't have the binders included in it. Keep in mind it is primarily nitrogen.

There are many other types of "meal" available, as I mentioned above. Blood meal, bone meal, fish meal, cottonseed meal, etc. that can be used to supply the other nutrients and a 50 lb bag would be plenty for your garden. Save the rest to add in the fall or to use as a side dressing in mid-season and to kick-start your compost.

Also keep in mind the gardeners over on the Organic Gardening forum as your best source of information.

Dave

Susan, You'll have to let me know how it works out for you! I hope it goes well!

Dave, thank you SO much! Your information is fantastic! And we have stores in the area called Country Max and they're almost ALL pet and farm supplies (like PetSmart but more country lol) so I'll definitely have to get over there and check it out. The best part is, we have one right down the road from us! I'm so very excited! Thank you for the information! And I'll have to post on the Organic Gardening board, I was just really worried that I'd get in trouble for "double posting."

One piece of advice. Sometimes they add salt to the alfalfa for the animals. Rabbit pellets usually have that and horse pellets don't. Ask before buying because you don't want to add salt if you can keep from doing it.

I didn't know that about the salt! Thank you so much for the info! I'll be sure to ask for alfalfa without the salt!

Jess- You might want to go over to the compost/soil board.
It IS addictive!
Between recycling, reusing and composting, we only have to go to the dump a few times a year!
Happy Earth Day!

If you live in an area that has horse farms, many times they will give away their composted manure for free. I usually fill up as many buckets as I can, and mix into the soil. I found the farm through a posting on craigslist in the farm and garden section. Search "manure". Also, you can add the manure to your newly started compost. I was late on getting manure this year, so most of the manure left at the farm wasn't fully composted yet, so I bought an organic fertilizer called chickadeedoodoo. It says organic on the bag, it's composted and pelletized chicken manure. I'm no expert by any means, but I hope this helps! Good luck with your garden!!

Hi - and welcome to the gardening forums - lots of nice folks here who are always willing to help.

You mentioned "Starbucks grounds" - so thought I would toss in a thought there. One of the best ways to get your garden going and use those grounds is to start a worm bin. Not only will it utilize those vegetable left overs, along with coffee grounds, but start you on the right track with earth worms, which are great in the soil.

I use 2 plastic tote bins (Home Depot, etc.), one to fit inside the other. Use a heated ice pick to punch air holes in the bottoms for drainage. Shred some newspaper for a bed, then add coffee grounds, vegetable scraps - and some red fishing worms (fish tackle store). Add a little soil. Moving the mix about and adding shredded paper from time to time keeps worms happy. They will consume the paper, grounds, veggie scraps, leaving castings behind. When they are done, the decomposed material and castings can be added to your garden. Screen out the worms first, so they can be recycled back into some fresh bedding.

It's a great way to get started in the organic "philosophy" also recycle vegetable material, coffee grounds and make your soil fertile as well.

What better way to celebrate "Earth Day" - so please use those coffee grounds - worms love em, organic soil loves worms, veggies love organic soil. That's what it's all about.

You might want to check out the "Vermiculture Forum" also.

Bejay