The Independent Voice
Newsletter of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association March 2015
P O Box 5436, Kailua Kona Hawaii 96745 USA www.konacoffeefarmers.org
Contents
Message from the President
Exporting Coffee & Getting Paid for It
Hawaii Coffee Crop Down By 4%
KCFA Member Benefit – Our Website Classifieds
Geographical Identity Taking on a Face
Needed – Dynamic Leader for Educational Committee
Legislative Update
NBC Airs Segment on Kona Coffee Blends Awareness
Do Hawaii Coffee Grades Reflect “Quality”?
It’s Official: Americans Should Drink More Coffee
Global Coffee Consumption Rapidly Increasing
Ohi’a Forests are Important to Coffee Farming
St. Patty’s Day Special & a Joke
What to Do with Coffee Grounds
Write to Us
Editor- Clare Wilson
Message From the President
Hello All and Happy March,
I just finally stripped all of my trees and I’m beginning to prune even though it is still hasn’t rained much. If you had gone to the KCFA Pruning Workshop you would know that this is not recommended by master pruners Bob Smith and Bob Nelson but it is time to spray for CBB. What to do? According to the HDOA Coffee Estimate Report for 2014-15 we are showing signs of progress combating CBB. A different HDOA report regarding the CBB Quarantine being installed in Oahu said that some well managed farms are able to keep infestation “down” to 20%. Spraying 8 to 12 times a year to lose 20% of your prime coffee doesn’t seem like much progress to me. How does that 20% below prime coffee get marketed anyway?
I still learned something at that Pruning Workshop even after all these years. I wasn’t trimming my 2 year old verticals to make room for the “keikis”. I probably will learn something new at the KCFA Selecting Verticals Workshop given by the same gentlemen in May. You just never stop learning at this game. I hope that someday we learn to “progress” to the point where we can keep CBB down to 5%.
KCFA has also been working hard on the legislative front combatting another bug, the 10% Kona Blend Rule. Senator Ruderman from Hilo, who has been working very hard for the Kona farmer has gotten his bill, SB594, out of the AG Committee with the requirement that the 10% Kona Blends have to list that the coffee is 90% foreign grown. It is now going towards the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee which is chaired by Senator Roslyn Baker. You should email her and the rest of her committee for help. Senator Baker has not been particularly friendly to the Kona farmer in the past. Consumer Protection is the name of that committee and they need to know that the coffee consumer in Hawaii really does need help in recognizing that a 10% Blend is 90% foreign grown.
I have to get out there and trim more of those trees (hope it rains).
Tom Butler, KCFA President
Exporting Coffee & Getting Paid For It 
So, you finally land that big customer overseas. But you are concerned about payment terms. How can you safely extend credit and ensure you get paid?
An easy answer is by taking a credit insurance policy through the Export-Import Bank. The Ex-Im is a federal agency that helps small businesses build markets overseas. For only 0.5% of your order’s total, they will insure you against non-payment. If your client forgets to pay you, they will.
The Ex-Im was started 80 years ago to give small businesses a chance to compete internationally. You can sign up via one of their free broker services. There is no monthly premium, it’s pay as you ship. More information on their range of programs is available through www.ExIm.gov or via their regional office at (949) 660-1341.
–Submitted by Suzanne Shriner
Hawaii Coffee Crop Down 4% in 2014/15, Says Estimate
From International Communicaffe
The presence of CBB (coffee berry borer) may still be affecting Hawaii coffee crop, as shown in the most recent data from the state Department of Agriculture and National Agricultural Statistics Service Pacific Regional Field Office.
According to the report released last week, the preliminary estimate for the 2014/15 Hawaii coffee marketings is 8.1 million pounds, which is 4 percent lower than the last season. Also noted is the CBB, which “remains a concern for the industry, though controlling measures are showing signs of progress.”
However, Kona Coffee Farmers Association board member and Rancho Aloha owner Bruce Corker warns about jumping to the conclusion that decline is because of CBB.
“With respect to the published NASS statistics, there is no way of knowing whether or not the 4 percent statewide decline is due to declines in coffee production in Hawaii County — the only county, up until very recently, where CBB was known to be present,” he said.
The statewide farm price for coffee increased 8 percent from an average of $6.20 per pound last season to $6.70 per pound.
The farm revenue for coffee is estimated at $54.3 million for this season, 4 percent more than last season, the report stated.
SOURCE
http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/state-coffee-production-down-value#sthash.NjUftIIk.dpuf
–Submitted by Chris Coleman
KCFA Website Classifieds
It’s time to invigorate our Classified Listings again which have been neglected by your web person. What are the KCFA Classifieds? They are an entire page on the KCFA site and a FREE Member benefit for you. Each day our Classified section get visits so let’s pump it up. If you Want to buy something- If you Want to offer something or to sell something- If you are Looking for help— Anything you want, practically.– 500 characters or less and it will be posted with you as the contact, for free.
–Submitted by Cecelia Smith
Geographical Identification Taking on a Face
With great honor and respect I was able to take advantage of the offer by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) to attend the presentation from their guest speaker, Dr. Vandana Shiva, who came to Hawaii as part of her “Home Rule Tour”. Dr. Shiva focused on the fact that your geographical identity is the starting point for healthy growth and positive change.
Dr. Shiva is a well-known Indian woman who through various entities including CFS in the US, and Slow Food/Terra Madre in Italy, has communicated her experiences and views regarding the scientific/environmental unknown impacts as well as the social and agricultural difficulties encountered by farmers and communities when dealing with genetically engineered (GE) crops.
The presentation was at Seabury Hall in Maui. Though an out of the way location (especially for people like my wife and I who had flown in for the event itself, but even for locals) and a rainy day, Dr. Shiva was speaking to an audience who wanted to hear her perspectives. It was a standing room only sold-out crowd and well worth the trip!
Generally Dr. Shiva spoke about broad areas such as how agriculture can and should be not only organic, but even beyond to protect the workers and the environment, with a specific note regarding the fact that pesticides are well documented worldwide to cause significant disruption to pollinator species which means that yet another problem has to be solved rather than identifying solutions for an agricultural system that does not rely on pesticides.
Another area of review and connection with the various counties in Hawaii (Maui and Hawaii counties with their County ordinances notably) was regarding the fact that all of us as consumers (which we all are even if our work is as farmers) seek to know what we are choosing to eat, and the labels put on foods can and should simply indicate if GE ingredients are included.
That is but one example of how the right to know what you are choosing can and should be provided with information labels since that is something that people worldwide seek and get from their governments and we would always expect that the Hawaii and the US would want to lead on that kind of basic opportunity.
There were a few main points that Dr. Shiva made that I believe are appropriate for all readers and especially for KCFA. Please understand that it is my desire to provide you with inspiration and encouragement, and not specific conclusions on your role(s).
First is that “apartheid” which translates as, “the state of being apart” is something that we must be sure to avoid. That way of thinking means that humans are separate from the earth, and we must instead work toward connection and understanding of the earth, which is our farmland!
Next is the importance of the state of being home in self. Remember that we should not be seeking more than clean up and reorganizing of self and that we are our own home base!
That said, Dr. Shiva pointed out that we each must take responsibility to self-organize so that we can thereby work together.
The final point to repeat is that like not only Kona and KCFA and coffee farmers anywhere in the world and all farmers everywhere as well, in diversity lies our unity. We can and must work together with recognition that no answer or view is wrong, but rather that with common goals the range of perspectives is strength and it is by learning from and working with one another that we can seek and achieve a strong and long-lasting set of solutions for any and all of the concerns that we hold!
This all relates to the concept of how if we can work alongside our neighbor farmers, and agree with the common goals of protecting our farm and our own wellbeing at home. We must strive to be sure that our farms are not taken over by large companies who are making the profits from “helping us” when their goal is instead to make larger profit margins for companies of their own or of their close allies. Instead we must look at what we share – Geographical Identity of our Kona coffee crop – and seek to unite through our diversity!
For your information, you can look at what Hawaii CFS is doing from their Honolulu office and with staff throughout the state at www.hawaiicfsaf.org. KCFA can and should coordinate with groups like this who want farmers to have decision power in what happens on their farms!
–Submitted by Colehour Bondera
NEEDED – Dynamic Leader for Education Committee 
We need one person with a couple of free hours a month to coordinate our Coffee Talk educational program. Need not be an expert in all things coffee, just willing to locate the experts. Were you a teacher or trainer in your pre-coffee life? Miss bringing knowledge and sharing vital info? We want you! Email us at info@konacoffeefarmers.org.
–Submitted by Suzanne Shriner
Legislative Update
Truth-In-Coffee-Labeling—SB594 and HB387
These two bills were introduced in response to Brenda Ford’s County Council Resolution (No. 501-14, unanimously adopted on October 15, 2014). SB594 was introduced by Senator Russell Ruderman (Hawaii County); HB387 was introduced by Representative Richard Creagan (Kona/Ka’u).
On February 17, a hearing was held before the Senate Agriculture Committee by Chair Ruderman. Many thanks to all KCFA members and supporters who submitted testimony in support: in-person testimony in Honolulu by Brenda Ford, Joachim Oster, Judy Schuman, Gretchen Lawson, and Bruce Corker; videoconference testimony by Colehour Bondera and Randy Phillips; and written testimony submitted by many others via the Legislature’s website.
Opposition testifiers in Honolulu included Jim Wayman and Roger Kaiwi of Hawaii Coffee Company; KCC President Gary Strawn; and more than a dozen representatives of various business organizations recruited by the blenders to testify that 10% Hawaii coffee blends are good for business in Hawaii.
In the Committee’s “decision-making” session that followed more than 2 hours of testimony, Sen. Ruderman valiantly sought to pass SB594 out of Committee—but the other four Senators (all from Oahu) watered down the bill by eliminating any change to the minimum 10% and allowing blenders to aggregate the foreign coffee in a blend without identifying the origins—that is, for example, “90% Foreign Coffee; 10% Kona Coffee”. Even in this watered down form, HB597 now must be scheduled for and passed out of a joint hearing of the Senate Commerce & Consumer Protection and Way & Means Committees.
Rep. Creagan has requested House Agriculture Committee Chair Clift Tsuji (Hilo) to schedule a hearing on HB387. Rep. Tsuji has not to date done so.
Other Bills: KCFA has submitted written testimony on the following additional bills:
**In opposition to SB1298: 10% cacao blend labeling bill;
**In support of SB598: to create and fund a full time employee to manage HDOA subsidies for CBB pesticides;
**In support of the objective and with suggested amendments for SB604: the Hawaii Farmers Union’s bill creating a Hawaii “origin products” commission;
**In opposition to HB1051: a poorly crafted bill to give “origin product” designation authority to HDOA rather than to a state commission.
The Petition: KCFA’s online petition asking the Legislature to adopt the requests of Hawaii County Council Resolution for a 51% minimum genuine content and disclosure of the % and for origin disclosure of non-Hawaii-Grown coffee in blends has been joined by more than 1840 signers! Thank you to all who signed and who encouraged others to sign. Review of the comments posted with the Petition is very interesting—especially the strong sentiments expressed by many mainland and foreign appreciators of 100% Kona coffee. –Submitted by the Legislative Committee
NBC Airs Segment on Kona Coffee Blend Awareness
Aloha all – here is the drop box link for the NBC footage that was aired last week on the “NBC Newschannel” :
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8r3tt9139o7lfc9/Kona%20Coffee%20News%20Channel%20Final.mov
–Submitted by Chris Coleman
Do Hawaii Coffee Grades Reflect “Quality”?
About 3 years or so ago there was a workshop on “coffee cupping” held in the CTAHR conference room in Kainaliu.The workshop was given by Shawn Steiman–PhD, coffee consultant, certified Quality Cupper. Shawn and the 15 or so participants blind-tasted 6 or 7 different brewed coffees from pump pots. All of the coffees were from Dawn and Robert Barnes’ KonaRainForest farm in South Kona–each of a different grade, ranging from Extra Fancy to Off-Grade. As each different coffee was tasted, Shawn instructed on tasting techniques and described the aromas, flavor notes, finishes, body, acidity that he found in each. The participants and Shawn rated each of the coffees. To the surprise of many, when Robert Barnes identified the coffee grade in each pump pot, Shawn and a number of the workshop participants had rated the Off-Grade as the best tasting of those sampled.
This result does not indicate that Q-Cupping is meaningless–but it may indicate that the Hawaii State Coffee Grade Standards are essentially meaningless as an indication of quality of the taste of brewed coffee in the cup. The names of the State Standards imply a descending order of quality (ExtraFancy as the highest quality, Fancy as next highest, etc.), but what they essentially indicate is bean size–and little more. Large beans (ExtraFancy) can produce top quality tasting coffee or they can produce mediocre tasting coffee. Off-Grade coffee (as illustrated by the Steiman workshop) can produce coffee of outstanding taste. [Note: The HDOA inspector, who has certified Kona coffees for years and who tastes coffee as part of the certification process, has told farmers that taste differences cannot be detected in different grades of Kona coffee from the same farm, harvested at the same time.]
Questions raised by the Steiman cupping workshop include:
(1) Should Hawaii abandon bean size as an indicator of quality? It seems self-evident that coffee “quality” should be judged by taste in the cup. If “Off Grade” coffee can be rated higher than “Extra Fancy” in comparative blind cupping by professional coffee cuppers, something is amiss with the Hawaii Grade system. What Shawn Steiman rated as better tasting than “Extra Fancy”, is deemed by Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s coffee grading regulations to be so inferior in taste that the coffee may not even carry the name “Kona” on the package.
(2) Should Hawaii follow the example of Vermont? For years Vermont’s grading system for its Maple Syrup assigned grade names suggesting higher taste “quality” for lighter colored maple syrup—similar to Hawaii’s coffee grade system’s suggestion that coffee taste “quality” is related to bean size. In the past, many consumers purchased “Fancy” Vermont Maple Syrup–the lightest in color–thinking they were getting the best quality, but were often disappointed by the thin taste. But darker maple syrup—with a stronger flavor often preferred by chefs—carried less appealing grade names and lower prices—and lower profits for farmers. Under pressure from farmers, last year Vermont abandoned its old grading system and adopted a new set of grades that has eliminated the negative names (for example “commercial grade”) previously used for darker syrup. The result–prices for darker (more flavorful) maple syrup have risen; more money flows into the pockets of farmers.
(3) If Q-cuppers rate “off-grade” as having a top quality taste, why shouldn’t it carry the Kona name? With increased CBB-caused defects, we are losing the ability to use the Kona name on an increasingly greater volume of our coffee–much of which produces an excellent taste in the cup. A two tier grade system—“Kona Grade A” for coffee that meets the current standard of prime or better and “Kona Grade B” for what is now “off-grade”—may, for example, provide a system that would be more honest for consumers and economically more beneficial for growers. If a farm’s “Grade B Kona” has a taste that even Q-cuppers rate highly, consumers should be happy. If coffee (Grade A or Grade B) does not have a quality taste, consumers won’t buy it a second time.
(4) Isn’t it ironic that 90% of coffee in “Kona Blends” is not required to meet any grade or quality standards whatever—and yet the name “Kona” is allowed on the package?
(5) Are each of us losing money because we are not able to use the Kona name on a growing % of our crop—even though professional cuppers may rate that coffee as being of top quality as a matter of taste?
–Submitted by the Branding Committee
Help Keep CBB at Bay with Beauveria bassiana!
The time has again come when it is important to work with your coffee tree needs in terms of the life cycle of Coffee Berry Borer Beetle (CBB) and need that you have for using Beauveria bassiana to help control the pest.
The grant that KCFA has with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) is still active, and we encourage you to print yourself an updated voucher and redeem at Farm & Garden (at either of their stores) as quickly as you can.
Further, for people who have not yet attended the required “Refresher Workshop” to participate in our program, one is tentatively scheduled for March 18, and that can be confirmed via our website, also an announcement will be sent to all on the KCFA email list as well to remind you once a time and the date are finalized.
Your involvement in our program is important to you to help pay for your needed product (Botanigard or Mycotrol), as well as to demonstrate to the HDOA the demand that farmers have for the support provided!
Thank you for your continued participation in the KCFA HDOA grant program to help you best control CBB on your farm.
–Submitted by Colehour Bondera
It’s Official: Americans Should Drink More Coffee
–from the Washington Post
When the nation’s top nutrition panel released its latest dietary recommendations on Thursday, the group did something it had never done before: weigh in on whether people should be drinking coffee. What it had to say is pretty surprising.
Not only can people stop worrying about whether drinking coffee is bad for them, according to the panel, they might even want to consider drinking a bit more.
The panel cited minimal health risks associated with drinking between three and five cups per day. It also said that consuming as many as five cups of coffee each day (400 mg) is tied to several health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
“We saw that coffee has a lot of health benefits,” said Miriam Nelson, a professor at Tufts University and one of the committee’s members. “Specifically when you’re drinking more than a couple cups per day.”
That’s great news if you’re already drinking between three and five cups each day, which Nelson and the rest of the panel consider a “moderate” level of consumption. But you know what? You probably aren’t, because people in this country actually tend to consume a lot less than that. On average, Americans only drink about one cup of coffee per day, according to data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture. Even when Americans drank the most coffee they ever have, back in 1946, they still only drank two cups a day on average.
Interestingly enough, it isn’t just people in the United States who drink less-than-moderate amounts of joe each day. No country in the world downs more than 3 cups each day per capita, according to market research firm Euromonitor. The country that drinks the most—Netherlands—still falls more than half a cup short of the three cup threshold each day.
Now this doesn’t mean that drinking between three and five cups of coffee per day correlates will necessarily make you healthier or stronger. It might. But even if it doesn’t, it’s unlikely to do anything other than make you more alert and awake.
“I don’t want to get into implying coffee cures cancer — nobody thinks that,” Tom Brenna, a member of the committee and a nutritionist at Cornell University, told Bloomberg on Thursday. “But there is no evidence for increased risk, if anything, the other way around.”
The decision, which broke the committee’s more than 40 years of silence on coffee, was driven by heightened interest in the caffeinated beverage as well as a growing anxiety about potential health risks associated with it, according to Nelson. It remains to be seen whether the Department of Health and Human Services or the Agriculture Department will take the committee’s recommendations for coffee intake to heart and include them in the official dietary guidelines update, which is due out later this year. But it’s rare for the government agencies to ignore the panel’s advice, so it’s fair to expect a federal endorsement for drinking coffee—as much as five cups a day no less—to be just around the bend.
Global Coffee Consumption Projected to Soar Over Next Five Years
MakiEni—Flickr/Getty Images
Populous nations like India and China are increasingly becoming fans of coffee
From the Wall Street Journal
As more of the world turns to coffee, demand for the beverage will increase by nearly 25% over the coming five years, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO).
“Consumption is increasing as societies in India, China and Latin America continue to be Westernized.” The ICO’s executive director Roberio Silva told the Wall Street Journal.
Currently, consumer intake of coffee stands at 141.6 million bags of beans; but by 2020, coffee demand is slated to rise to 175.8 million bags (each weighs approximately 132 lb).
The high demand coincides with a period of tight coffee supplies globally and currency fluctuations in Brazil. Last year’s prices were partly precipitated by a drought in the South American nation, currently the world’s largest coffee grower.
Global coffee production has been cut by 5.7 million bags this crop year because of the Brazilian drought, bad weather and a Central American plant fungus.
Other coffee growers like Vietnam, India and Indonesia are not expected to produce enough coffee to ensure market stabilization next year. –Submitted by Anita Kelleher
Importance of the Ohi’a Forest to Coffee Farming
I would like to point out some important benefits of having native forests, or even just islands of forest, on your coffee farm. Our forests exist nowhere else on this planet. Only 10% of Hawaii’s native dry forests currently remain. citation Perhaps they warrant space, an island, or even native tree plantings on your farm.
• Economic benefits of leaving intact Ohi’a forest include providing endemic Beauveria inoculum and genetic variation to possibly help mediate Coffee Berry Borer. An old growth forest could also provide supplemental food for Beauveria and habitat to complete its life cycle. Since Beauveria is a carnivorous fungus it needs to complete its life cycle on an insect to sporulate, which harvesting can impede, a stable forest presence could provide this.
• Soil Health: Forest soil microbial population is primarily fungal, where grassland and herbaceous plant soil is primarily bacterial. Coffea is originally an understory forest tree. Intact old growth Ohi’a forests have thousands of species of fungus and bacteria, many still yet to be identified. Many more of these fungi could be beneficial to farmers. Our orchard soil, where the ground cover is grass, may benefit from the many fungi inoculum from intact nearby forests.
The Ohi’as and other native plants roots can slow water movement and prevent erosion of our so valuable soils. Hundreds of years of growth has produced an amazing underground array of fine roots and associated life.
• Trees bring the rain. I have heard this local lore from a few different sources. Ohi’a means ‘to gather’ etc., and gather water it does. Ohi’a’s fine hair roots weave their way through cracks in the lava mining condensate or ground moisture and nutrients. This moisture can be translocated above ground to cool the tree and surrounding area (evapotranspiration). On the leaves where protective hairs occur, it can regulate moisture loss but also gather moisture, along with the aerial roots.
Dr. Dominick Spracklen of Leeds University has found that twice as much rain falls from air passing over extensive forest than sparsely vegetated ground. It could be extrapolated that the tall Ohi’as etc. encountering our daily air movement and temperature changes would also make a large difference. The west facing slope the Kona coffee district resides upon, relies heavily on the regular clouds and rain. With the droughts locally, and all over the planet, we probably don’t want to be making this worse with deforestation. citation
• Birds & the Bees: Intact forest is habitat for some birds that can possibly move the fungal spores around and are cited as eating CBB. citation Most native birds are at higher elevations but some visit coffee farm elevations.
Ohi’a is an important nectar and insect source for most native birds.
In areas of Ohi`a forest decline on Mauna Kea there was cited a 47%-93% native bird decline with a 30%-34% increase of invasive birds. citation pg 11 (or try pasting:
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr086/psw_gtr086.pdf ), citation
The native Hawaiian Hawk & Hoary bat also need mature forests for reproduction. Hawaiian bats don’t use caves or lava tubes. citation citation
Intact forest, especially if Koa is one of the players, can provide alternative nectar sources to honeybees when coffee is not in bloom. Starvation from mono-cropping is one of the factors stressing bees today. These diverse forests also provide nectar and habitat for what remains of the native honeybees. Native bees need undisturbed ground to nest in and hollow branches. Forests can also provide an area free from spray and fertilizer. citation
• Affordable: Intact old growth forests can be low maintenance if not thinned. Thinning allows for invasive species to take better hold. Islands of intact old growth forest where soil had not been permanently compacted by heavy machinery can hold their own against most invasive species with minimal care. There are financial programs and large tax breaks that help leave forest intact or investing in reforestation and its maintenance. citation
• Carbon Sequestering: A new study correlates old trees, not young trees, due to larger root systems with much more carbon sequestering than was thought. Previous models did not account for soil carbon storage and the fact that at least half the carbon goes to trees root systems. citation There are enormous amounts of carbon in our old growth Ohi`a forests and when they are cut down the carbon is eventually released to the atmosphere. This is cited in this paper about shade coffee farming, some examples with Ohi`a trees. citation
“Preserving and growing Hawaii’s natives soils and fostering the plants that live in them, could have a global impact”…due to glomalin, soils “super glue” as it contains up to a third of the world’s stored soil carbon. citation Another study found that intact forests with less species actually have greater fungal diversity. Abstract: citation submitted by Kally Goschke
St. Patrick’s Day Special 
& a Joke 
St Patrick’s Day Special: KCFA green sling bags – get 5 for $70 and get one free! Very handy for farmers’ markets and other shopping.
St. Patty’s Day Joke: What’s green and sits in the sun? Patty O’furniture…
–Submitted by Mary Lou Moss
What to Do with Coffee Grounds
From the Mother Nature Network
1. Soften skin
Exfoliate with a body scrub made of coffee grounds, coconut oil and a little brown sugar. Gently massage it on in the shower, rinse, be soft.
2. Please the flowers
Use coffee grounds as mulch for acid-loving plants — roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreens, hydrangeas and camellias. They like coffee grounds for the natural acidity and nutrients they add to the soil.
3. Sadden the ants
Sprinkle coffee grounds around areas of ant infestation to deter them.
4. Deter gastropods
Used grounds are said to repel snails and slugs, so sprinkle them in problem areas.
5. Simplify fireplace cleaning
Before cleaning the fireplace, sprinkle with dampened used coffee grounds, which will weigh down the ash and thus eliminate clouds of smoke-flavored dust.
6. Make a sepia dye
Soak used grounds in hot water and use as a dye bath for Easter eggs, fabric and paper for a lovely, soft brown tinge.
7. Keep cats at bay
Keep kitties out of the garden with a mixture of orange peels and used coffee grounds distributed around plants.
8. Encourage the carrots
To boost a carrot harvest, mix seeds with dried coffee grounds before sowing. The extra bulk makes the wee seeds easier to manage, while the coffee aroma can nourish the soil and help repel pests. –Submitted by Anita Kelleher
Please Write To Us!
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! >> Write us. We welcome Letters to the Editor up to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name and email address >> Email: info@KonaCoffeeFarmers.org with SUBJECT: Commentary.