How much coffee grounds should I add to my compost (and how frequently)?

Question

I have been reading that spent coffee grounds can be used for fertilizer and/or composting and also came across this question on this site. I have a compost pile in the yard that holds roughly two 33 gallon trashbags full of uncomposted leaves (i.e. freshly raked leaves from the yard).

Can I take my spent/wet coffee grounds out each morning and add it into the compost pile (I drink about 2-3 cups/day)? How much coffee grounds should I add so that there is a balance between other stuff in the compost pile? If adding it daily is too much, should I limit my composting of the spent coffee grounds to less frequent intervals (once a week, once every two weeks, etc)?

Answer 1

See especially the third bullet of yoda's answer on the linked question. Adding coffee grounds (high nitrogen) will help balance out your mixture (i.e. leaves which are high carbon).

In your situation, you might consider "holding" the autumn leaves in a dry area (bin, bags, etc. -- esp. if you can shred them first), and when you add grounds to the pile cover with a thin layer of leaves and sprinkle soil or mature compost. Coffee helps the leaves break down faster, and the leaves provide carbon to balance the process.

Finally, if you aren't impatient, don't worry about turning the pile -- it will rot eventually.