Thomas Dean wrote:
Rebecca Norman wrote:The talk of diving on behalf of chickens reminded me I wanted to ask this question. I get a bag of coffee grounds often from a cafe. It has a few pastries and cake in it. If I had chickens, would it be good to dump the sacks in the run and let them pick at the pastries among the coffee grounds? Or would chocolate cake and coffee grounds be bad for them?
I'd give it to the chickens. Cake is empty calories, but so is cracked corn... As for the coffee grounds, I doubt they will eat enough to matter. I used to get coffee grounds and add them to my compost, which the chickens have access to. That was pre-covid and pre-job change, both of which stalled collection of coffee grounds for me. I even saw that TSC offered a bedding made of used coffee grounds. I saw it once, then never again. Reasonable idea. Also, here's some info about coffee bedding, have not read it, but I think it's the same stuff I saw at TSC https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2022/06/using-coffee-grounds-bedding/
You don’t want to make your own coffee grounds bedding. Keep this to the professionals.
Rebecca Norman wrote:The talk of diving on behalf of chickens reminded me I wanted to ask this question. I get a bag of coffee grounds often from a cafe. It has a few pastries and cake in it. If I had chickens, would it be good to dump the sacks in the run and let them pick at the pastries among the coffee grounds? Or would chocolate cake and coffee grounds be bad for them?
John C Daley wrote:I can just imagine the scene William, belly balanced on the dumpster edge.
Body see- sawing as your centre of balance changes.
Ever shot down into a bin?
William Bronson wrote: My sister teaches at a place called La Soupe.(https://www.lasoupe.org/)
It exists to divert food waste away from landfills and into the mouths of the needy.
Vollenteers prep ingredients for the chefs, then they make a communal meal.
It's a good time for anyone who likes cooking and community.
They get good stuff from local grocery stores, and the meals are delicious.
They compost or recycle almost every scrap , right down to the food handling gloves.
I don't currently dive for food or feed, since I only have 3 chickens, but I do stop and grab the best bits out of construction dumpsters.
When I do dive for edibles, Aldi is my go to.
Since they've raised their produce standards, the pickings are better than ever, but they are still too cheap to pay for a compacting dumpster.
Trader Joe's is also good, but too far away from me.
I've noticed my birds don't care for whitehead, but I don't think it's them being smart, since they love themselves some styrofoam...
I've been tempted to dive a KFC dumpster, just for the bones.
Make bone char with them and grow a bunch of melons or squash
Even the paper would be useful for making fire, and the cups for starting plants.
Only plastic would be hard to use, and that could be returned to the dumpster!
Ted Abbey wrote:
Thomas Dean wrote:
Ted Abbey wrote:I dumpster dive every day.. for pig food. All of the restaurants and schools in my nearby town save all food waste for me, except for two “corporate” restaurants who shall remain nameless.. let’s just call them Benny’s and Rubway. The amount of perfectly good food they prefer to send to the landfill is shocking. Perhaps even more puzzling is the patrons. It appears that most eat very little of what they order, yet they seem fatter than ever? This is strange to me, as I never leave a scrap on the occasions that I eat out, and I can’t seem to gain weight. By the way, I did this all through the “pandemic”, and never got sick once, despite sorting through used straws and napkins. Bonus.. I have a HUGE collection of silverware and dishes that the waitstaff saw fit to include in the garbage.. Thanks!
I stopped at "rubway" and a local pizza place last week, both told me that company policy did not allow them to give me food waste.
However, I've made a good and legitimate connection with the produce manager at a local store, and a couple times a week, I get boxes of produce for the livestock.
Ted Abbey wrote:I dumpster dive every day.. for pig food. All of the restaurants and schools in my nearby town save all food waste for me, except for two “corporate” restaurants who shall remain nameless.. let’s just call them Benny’s and Rubway. The amount of perfectly good food they prefer to send to the landfill is shocking. Perhaps even more puzzling is the patrons. It appears that most eat very little of what they order, yet they seem fatter than ever? This is strange to me, as I never leave a scrap on the occasions that I eat out, and I can’t seem to gain weight. By the way, I did this all through the “pandemic”, and never got sick once, despite sorting through used straws and napkins. Bonus.. I have a HUGE collection of silverware and dishes that the waitstaff saw fit to include in the garbage.. Thanks!
Phil Swindler wrote:I made this from a piece of wood I pulled from the trash at work.
I made several and gave most of them away.
Ian Kleiman wrote:I'm just north of Grand Rapids with about 5 mostly wooded acres and lots of ambition, looking for others nearby with permaculture ambitions and or experience. Lately cutting down some trees to make room for sun and future beds and guilds. I'd like to be able to trade info and seeds/starts and maybe get people in the area thinking about a sustainable future. There must be more permie types around here. Where are you?
C. Letellier wrote:Mostly the answer is no. You will get some limited reseed. The reason it doesn't work is alfalfa releases alleopathic chemicals into the ground. This prevents the germination of most of the alfalfa seed you put down around the plant.