I have to admit, I’m a bit of a coffee lover. This means I often end up with coffee bags after I finish all the beans. So I’ve had to get creative by turning these into a functioning part of my home garden.

These tiny bag gardens can be grown anywhere using anything you can find. I use old 1kg coffee bags – they last for ages and you can find them everywhere. If you can, try to find a local cafe that stocks sustainable beans.

Six easy steps

1. Trim and roll the top.
2. Put some holes in the bottom.
3. Fill with compost or good potting mix.
4. Plant a herb cutting or a salad green.
5. Put on a tray to collect drips.
6. Place close to your kitchen for easy harvest.

In July, I film a short live video every day, from my garden or inside my house. During these lives, I talked about a number of simple ways that we can actually get rid of some of the single-use plastics that enter into our daily lives. This video is a from Day 15 and it focusses on the ways we can reduce plastic waste by re-using our old coffee bags.

To learn more about growing a permaculture garden simply and easily, check out our course The Incredible Edible Garden and learn how to design your own permaculture landscape in our Permaculture Design Course.

Best way to buy bulk coffee beans

When I go out shopping now, my goal is typically to try and buy as much bulk as I can. I recently went into my local co-op, and I noticed that they had big vats of coffee and the option to get beans in any size that you want. But then I watched as they just topped up the big vats with smaller bags, and I was quite surprised. After asking some questions and talking with people, I realized that buying the regular-sized bags of coffee beans is the best way to get fresh coffee beans for your home.

What I’ve noticed now though, is that I’ve ended up with lots of the bags and didn’t know what to do with them. So what do you do? Well, actually coffee bags make really good planters.

My hack for left-over coffee bags

What I do is trim off the top (watch the video to see exactly where I do this). I then make a couple of little holes at the bottom corners so that the water can drain out. Otherwise, you’ll get flooded plants and they’re not going to be happy about that. Next, you can roll the top of the bag back onto itself (see video).

Inside I start by filling it with compost, or good quality potting mix if you don’t have compost (read my blog on 5 ways to make compost here). If you do end up using a potting mix, then it’s really just another bag that you have to find a use for. You could make a little garden out of it, but it is a lot easier to quickly make your own compost and use that.

With your compost when you are filling up the bag, it’s always really nice to get your hands in it and test the soil. You can also have a smell, because good compost always has a lovely smell. Using your hands also lets you check for any big chunks, which you should throw back into the compost because they aren’t ready yet.

The finishing touches

Once you have a nice bag full of compost, you can then go ahead and plant your chosen herb or plant. In my video, I use a small stem of lavender and show you how to cut it and replant it so watch the video for my tips on that. After you’ve readied your plant, you can make a small hole into the potting mix, put the plant in and firmly pat the soil around it. Then just grab a little bit of mulch and then pop that around the top too. Lastly, add a lot of water until it starts to come out the bottom holes that you cut earlier. Soon you’ll have a happy herb growing!

You can now put your new pot in a nursery if you have one, or on your veranda, the back patio, or in the kitchen (though it leaks when watered, so beware). As you can see, it is so so simple to take the things that come out of your home and reuse them to make something great and useful for your edible garden.

Thanks for reading!