Today, I expanded my garden using a mug—a mug with a cat’s face on it that holds special meaning for me, as it was a gift from my girlfriend. My brother accidentally dropped it, and it ended up with a small chip along the rim. I decided to plant some sweet garlic seeds in it; I didn’t have much potting soil—just enough to cover the bottom—so I filled the rest with coffee grounds. I’ve heard that coffee can be a good fertilizer—is that true? Have any of you tried it?
It certainly absorbs moisture; it likely still contains some alkaloids, though I’m not sure if many usable nutrients remain. Regardless, it provides some bulk and should retain enough moisture for plants to take up a certain amount of nutrients.
Here’s another view—I’m not sure if you recall, but last week a garlic plant was emerging from one of the sides; it finally sent up a stalk after having been planted for a long time. That one died, but then another appeared—it also shot up quite suddenly. It looks fairly robust and has grown vigorously; its stalks—or leaves, depending on how you choose to see them—have grown almost as much as the one I’ve had from the very beginning.
As for the cactus, it feels like it’s stayed more or less the same; I need to try marking it with a pencil to see if it has grown a bit and to keep track of it—I haven’t been able to tell just by looking at the photos. Meanwhile, the cherry tomatoes are thriving. I’ve been thinking about getting a separate planter—one of those long, horizontal ones—to hold several plants, and maybe even planting a bell pepper, though I’ve heard they’re quite delicate...
For my next post, I hope to share the results regarding the ají dulce (sweet chili peppers) and show you a large planter where I’ve managed to grow bell peppers—or perhaps something else! God willing, the plants will have grown enough by then for you to see the results or at least the progress!