Peanut Hulls from Texas Roadhouse

Has anybody been able to get Texas Roadhouse to agree to save peanut hulls for their garden? If so, I would like to know which one. The one by me throws them out with the garbage to be burried in the dump. I spoke with the owner one day while eating there and he did not want to mess with it, suppossedly violating a city health code. I would think with as many hulls they throw on the floor that they could just sweep them up and bag them back in the original bags for gardeners to come pick up like starbucks does with their used coffee grounds. Thanks, Mike

That's actually not a bad idea! We have a restaraunt that does the whole peanuts hulls on the floor thing. Next time I'm down that way, I'm gonna ask!

Thanks for the response renwings. Peanut hulls are suppossed to have Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. They are also suppossed to help with the texture of my hard clay. http://www.sunsetnursery.on.ca/composting.html It was several months ago that I talked to the owner shile eating there, but I think about it now and then and especially when eating there. A couple of days ago, I sent Texas Roadhouse an email with web sites showing the benefits of hulls, Starbucks getting recognized, and Starbucks grounds for gardeners policy. Thanks again, Mike

Just great! Please update this with any developements, as I can see plausable reasons they may not agree to save them for gardeners.
Kenton

In roadhouse's situation, I'm sure its a labor, and time thing, they would have to sweep,and seperate,whitch would be an expense.I wonder if you volunteered,to sweep up after closing time,would that make a differance,keeping in mind not to interfere with operations.Just a thaught,I myself have overseen the operation of a football stadium,and get greaved every time to see popcorn,and peanut hulls blown into a massive waste picker uper,and hauled to a land fill, knowing all along that you can't slow down the process to humas grub,and believe me I greeve. Mike

Make sure they are not salted in the shell.

Paul

Yeah, I was about to say, Logan's here does the same thing, but I wonder if they wouldn't be too salty -- these are VERY salty hulls.

The ones at Roadhouse are not salty. They have two pans on each table, one for complimentary peanuts in the shell and one to put the shells in after you crack them. A portion of the hulls are then dumped on the floor and most customers who are not on the inside of a booth just toss them on the floor. There might be a few plastic cracker wrappers or something dropped on the floor, but the trash on the floor is a very small percent, (which I would think anyone getting the hulls would not mind picking them out) compared to the hulls which are for the atmosphere of Roadhouse. Has anyone been to Texas Roadhouse?

I too have concrete hard clay and thought about this ages ago when I first went into Logans, but have failed to actually contact them and inquire. Who would I contact regarding the possibility of acquiring peanut hulls from their floors? Any ideas?

Just call them and ask. I tell you what, becoming a nutcase-serious-gardener has made me a more bold person in general. Which reminds me that I need to stop by a place in town and ask for their leaves...
(I hope everyone is composting their pumpkins- ultra rich green material...)

I refuse to vacuum bars to get peanut hulls to compost. There are some things a respectable gardener just won't do. I am going out looking for good fresh manure. Hummmmph!

Let us know what Logans says. I have thought about asking soup & salad about there end of the day leftovers, I think most everything there is compostible, outside of the foil on the baked taters. I have been a little gun shy after talking to Texas Roadhouse. I have been getting alot of horse manure as there are alot of horses around me. I saw a dumptruck doing work across the highway from me and I drove my tractor over there to see if I could pay them by the hour to go bring me some loads of manure from a lady who trains quarter horses about 1/2 mile from here. The man asked what it was for and when I told him, he told me that he was cleaning up the property because it had sold and that he had several loads of rotted manure that I could have if I just pay part of his truck rental. He brought me three loads of manure and would not take any money. He said he had about three loads of leaves and a load of sand if I wanted them and would bring them today. He did not bring them, but I was real happy to get the horse manure. I had read articles suggesting asking restaraunts for leftovers and suggesting to ask horse stables for there manure & that alot are willing. It seems to be pretty consistant with stables, but maybe kind of iffy with restaurants.

So you got a solid response from Texas Roadhouse?

I heard chainsaws yesterday morning, so my immediate reaction was to take my coffee out and find out where it was- I asked the tree trimming service (I do this anytime there is a tree beign trimmed in the area) to dump the load in my drive. Also got some nice firewood. Free, anmd free delivery! I've never recieved quite as much woodchip as I go this time- it is fairly finely shredded, too. Perhaps five or six cubic yards? It takes up the area where my truck would otherwise sit.

Compost should be free!

I've also thought about checking with one of the local places that sells coffee to get their coffee grounds. When I was at Albertsons the other day they were cleaning up the veggies & fruits that were going a little bad. I should have ask them for the scrapes at the time and didn't do it. Think I'll call them. Horse manure I got. At least enough to keep me busy. Corn cob grit I still have from when we had our house grit blasted. I never thought about getting some of the mulched tree piles the city leaves on the road when they clean up the downed trees.
'Course if I get peanut shells then I'm gonna have to find some available strong men to help me dig up some clay and mix it in. Would be wonderful to assist with loosening the clay, water absorption, and drainage. That would take A LOT of peanut shells!!!
If my husband finds out I'm getting scraps from stores and restaurants somebody will have to come visit me in the looney ward. He HATES my composting and adding ammendments to the ground.

Texas Roadhouse (the restaurant not The Double Deuce Bar in Jasper Missouri from the movie) never responded to my email. I might email one of their other restaurants at some point, but I was really just curious to see if anyone had had any luck trying them. I started this post mostly because the search engine was down and I had been trying to search forums for roadhouse. Cagan, if not able to get the help, you might also try one of those deep rooted legume cover crops over the winter but you would still need to till it in. I had to use a lister/ripper before I could till my clay the first time. Have you tried talking to Logans? Take care, Mike

Do you know what specifically ARE the deep rooted legume cover crops? I've asked at a feed store and they didn't know. Would it work if I just dig small areas in a scattered pattern and put the seeds down? Oooo another big question: Will they grow in partial shade? Most (probably somewher in the 90%) of my entire property is shade or partial shade. Haven't tried to call them yet. Plan to today. ~~~ Carol

If you send me your reg email address I forward you some pictures that will shock you. (rain at my house)
Do you have dial up or DSL? I may have to down size the pictures.

Deep rooted cover crop: Alfalfa. Will tolerate some shade.

So, are you topdressing or actually amending with hulls?

Have no idea. That's part of my problem is figuring out how to get things to grow in my ground. Much of it is hardpan on the exposed ground.
I thought Alfalfa only multiplies by sprigs; does it grow from seed also?

James took the alfalfa right out of my mouth lol. I think your scattered pattern will work. Yes they do grow from seed. How big of a garden are you figuring on making? I bought some alfalfa on the internet and it was expensive for a small amount. The feed store here only sales 50lb bags of it, it is also reccommended to buy inoculant. Here in Texas, part shade is a good thing. I have none outside of my porch and the small trees that I have planted. I read on some garden site that when plants say full sun, that they are not talking about the full sun like we get here. The only tomatos that did good this year were the ones planted by my corn and the ones that my son planted by the porch, which is still producing (cold front yesterday might change that). James, I have a cousin that lives in 4-corners in a town called Ignastio is that close to you? Did you get alot of snow this week? Later, Mike

No, Mike, I'm up in the middle of the near-Utah border. But we and Ignacio have in common being much warmer in winter than the rest of CO. Our odd little valley was skipped by the snow that laced the mountains around us.

Alfalfa is like a giant purple perrenial semievergreen clover propagated by seed or root.

CAG-Animal-Lover: I personally believe the best way to amend a large area with little work is to top-dress/mulch like a madman, (and till lightly at first) attracting worms that mix in the organic matter, building a stable topsoil, breaking up the hardpan, (all by itslef) and making gardening in your future 300% easier. While you work more intensively on one small corner of the garden, the whole rest of it is becoming gorgeous soil before you get to it.

There are no marketed chemical-quick-fixes, fertilizers, fancy expensive amendments, or specific composts that will solve your hardpan clay. Just bulk organic matter is the key. Get those fall leaves, farm manures, old pumpkins, coffee grounds, grass clippings, everything you can get...

The best way to improve hard pan is to move. If you are unable to do that start small with a raised bed and build it and fill it with plants and you will be motivated to continue until you die. Just don't make it a job. Stop when it isn't fun and look at the previous bed and rejoice. I have 3 acres of clay and rock. Glacial lateral moraine. I after 10 years almost have 1/3 of it landscaped and each year it gets easier cause I get smarter, tougher, and more determined to make it a place that will keep me going when I retire. Oh yeah and I get more and more compost from the plants I have been growing. My machinery is bigger and my DW is quicker to respond to the whip. LOL
Herodotus taught me how to motivate slaves to build my Giza.

Gosh, I wish I had you men as husbands. My husband refuses to help me. Thinks things should just grow, no matter the ground, and by assuming that purchased "top soil" is a guarantee that is is GOOD composted top soil. His other theory is to not do anything, but while he is ignoring it I see more and more ground wash away and become harder and harder.

I hear you about the sun. Direct sun will burn quicker than you can remember the sunblock. I LOVE my trees and the shade they provide. I have very little full sun areas. We are close to 100% shade.

I enyoyed the rain photo's. Love the rain and the trees, of which I see lilttle of either. Do you leave your tree leaves on the ground, or compost them? I think leaving them on the ground at least where you want to garden should help with the clay problem. You might also look for a full shade tolerant ground cover to slow down the erosion. From the pictures you sent, you might need to cut some trees to let some sun in to make a garden area. Wish you could send me some of those trees. If that is your tractor/loader in the photo, you should be able to push some leaves and dirt together in a hurry to get a good start on an area for a raised bed. Could also use a chipper/shredder to throw some tree limb chips into the pile.

We do leave most of the leaves on the ground. (The leaves wash down to the creek when it rains.) The only leaves that are used elsewhere is if I decide to mix some in a hole I dig for a plant or for my small compost pile.

Glorious photo and area. What is "rain"?

That's a good question the majority of the time. Every city around us can get rain and we get nothing. When we do get rain it usually is a torrential downpour. If you see a blue moon I may have a nice slow rain that will soak into my ground. IF

Here's another picture that isn't as pretty. See the water coming over the side of the wall?