How to Start Seeds with K-Cups

Every year around late February, the boys and I start our garden project for the Spring. I have always used this opportunity to teach them two things 1) how you can turn a few small seeds into an entire garden with just a little work, some water, and sunshine and 2) the value of recycling.

The recycling part always comes into play with the containers we've chosen to start our seeds. In years past, we've used egg cartons, yogurt cups, applesauce cups, and other containers that we've fished out of the recycling bin and cleaned for the project. THIS year, however, we used K-cups and got the added bonus of using the coffee grounds for our compost! Here's how you can too:

Begin by saving K-Cups in advance of your project. The number that you will need will be dependent on the number of seeds you'll want to start and the size of your garden. (Because not every seed sprouts, I always recommend starting more seeds than you think you'll need.) Once you've saved enough K-Cups, gather them along with the other materials needed for the project:

Materials:

• Used K-Cups (enough for the amount of seeds you want to start)
• Seed packets
• Scissors
• Spoon (not pictured)
• Plastic grocery bag (not pictured)
• Potting soil or seed starting mixture (not pictured)
• Permanent marker (not pictured)

Use the scissors to cut a slit from the hole in the foil to the outer edge. The K-Cup should now look like this:

Peel the foil off the top of the K-Cup:

Use the spoon to scoop out the coffee grounds into the grocery bag, and repeat the above steps for each K-Cup. (Note: if desired, you may also remove the filter from the K-Cup as shown below. But I had so many to do, I only removed it from one and decided to not remove it from the others.)

Once K-Cups have been prepared using the above steps, fill them with potting soil or seed starting mix and plant seeds using package directions. Label the K-Cups using the permanent marker. Add the coffee grounds to your compost.

Let seeds germinate as per usual, making sure they have access to plenty of sunlight and watering at regular intervals. Within a couple of weeks, you should have sprouts for your garden!

This post contains affiliate links.