Fundraiser and Dance Party on Oct 9th!
September 19, 2014
Category: Announcement
Compost Educator Training this September!
August 13, 2014
The Basics:
The Compost Educator Program (CEP) is a comprehensive volunteer training program that has been offered by the Centre since 1992.
The CEP includes 10 hours of classroom, practical, and hands-on instruction. It is spread over the course of two Saturdays.
The next session will take place on Saturday September 20 from 10am-3pm and Saturday September 27 from 10am-3pm.
Space is limited to 15 participants per session.
Cost is $50.
To reserve your space in the Compost Educator Program, please email Clare at education (a) compost.bc.ca or register online HERE.
Features of the training:
- Site tour, Centre services & staff orientation
- Composting systems & methods
- Compost pile maintenance & troubleshooting
- Worm-bins & indoor composting
- Answers for the public’s Compost FAQ
- Hot compost pile building
- Community educational outreach skills
- Intro to permaculture principles & application
- Organic gardening & soil building
- Comprehensive compost manual that is yours to keep
- Potluck lunches!
Following the training course, volunteers can lend their skills to the Centre as community educators and site volunteers.
Volunteer opportunities include:
Community outreach volunteering involves staffing the Compost Education Centre mobile displays when we attend different events throughout the CRD, such as:
- Moss St. Market
Seedy Saturday
Organic Islands Festival
Community outreach is a powerful tool to spread the ‘dirt’ on composting. It’s a great experience for all involved.
Garden volunteering is a great opportunity to learn new skills and help out in the gardens at the Compost Ed Centre! Work bees are held on the first Saturday of every month from 12:30-3:30. Each one is focused on a relevant task in the garden for that month of the growing season. We begin with a short theory lesson to give some background on the task and then get dirty applying the new knowledge in the garden.
Fall organic plant sale on Aug 16th!
July 31, 2014
Here at the Compost Education Centre, we always enjoy watching beautiful starts leave the sale to find their new homes in gardens around town. We’ll be hosting our second plant sale of the year on Saturday August 16th from 10am-1pm. This is a great opportunity to pick up some great veggie starts such as broccoli, kale and chard varieties for healthy winter eating!
August is ‘bring a friend for free’ month!
July 31, 2014
We are excited to offer a 2-for-1 special on our August workshops! For the month of August, all Compost Club members who take a workshop can bring a friend along for free. When registering online, simply purchase your workshop ticket as you usually do, then choose the option to bring along a friend at no cost. Looking forward to seeing you and your pals at these fantastic events!
You can choose from two awesome August workshops for the promotion:
Natural Beekeeping
1:00pm-4:00pm
August 9th
Are you curious about how to get started with natural backyard beekeeping? Join Tara Beninger, local beekeeper extraordinaire, to learn all about effective and natural beekeeping. Topics will include advantages of different hive designs, how to build an effective hive for our specific climate, natural approaches to bee health, bee-friendly hive management, and more! To register, click here.
Aquaponics
1:00pm-4:00pm
August 23rd
Aquaponics is an efficient, sustainable system that produces both fish and hydroponic vegetables! We will examine the development of aquaponics, techniques, new innovations and home-scale projects for the sustainable urban gardener. A range of potential crops and fish will be discussed, and we will also cover different materials and where to source them. The main focus will be on freshwater home systems, with the Compost Centre’s demonstration garden providing a practical example. We will also take a tour of the large-scale aquaponics system at Mason Street City Farm just a few blocks away from the Compost Education Centre! To register, click here.
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Green cone sale extended until Oct 31st
June 25, 2014
In exciting composting news, we are offering the green cone food digesters for a special sale price of $130 (down from $165) until September 30th October 31st! So many folks are excited about the opportunity to get a bargain digester that we decided to extend the sale.
Curious about the green cone food digester? Here’s the scoop! The Green Cone digester accepts all food scraps, including items that typically cannot go into a backyard compost bin :
- dairy
- cooked food
- bread
- bones & meat
The digester must be dug 2 feet into well draining soil in a sunny area of the garden.
Simply add all your food scraps and it will ‘digest’ them – turning your waste into a nutrient rich leachate that is absorbed by the surrounding soil.
It can also be used to compost pet waste (must be placed at least 10 feet away from a food garden or fruit producing tree in this case).
No skill or effort required, simply fill and forget:
- Easy assembly – requires only a screwdriver and a shovel
- Requires very little maintenance after installation
- Handles up to 11lbs of food scraps per week
- Pest resistant
- Perfect for group dwellings, schools and households with limited green space
For more information on the green cone food digester, check out our Fact Sheet!
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FernFest is coming up on the summer solstice!
June 7, 2014
Attention Victoria, you are invited to Fernwood Square on Friday night and all day Saturday, June 20 & 21, to celebrate 19 years of FernFest and the summer solstice. The weekend is filled with an eclectic line-up of musical talent that you might not know but are guaranteed to love. FernFest always showcases the very best of Victoria’s vibrant local music scene. Did we mention the event is free and open to all ages?
FernFest is a unique neighbourhood music and arts festival that began in 1995. For almost 2 decades, with the help of local businesses and many volunteers, this family friendly event has been transforming the neighbourhood into a carnival of wonder and shared celebration.
On Saturday, wake up and catch the Pancake Breakfast cooked up by the great folks of the Fernwood Inn. Explore the treasures of over 40 artisans and vendors, drop in for a capoeira demo on the Field of Dreams, play and make art in the Kid’s Zone. Don’t miss the Kidical Mass Bike Parade, Fernwood Art Stroll, Fernwood Paint-off, Senior’s High Tea, painting the Bubble Man’s car, silent auction, and many more fun filled surprises. Fernwood Square will be rocking all day and night with live music conveniently located in front of the beer garden. As per usual, we’ve got delicious Phillips beer and this year we’ve added Lonetree Cider on tap. Benji Duke, of the Friday Quiz, will be there to guide us through 15 music acts including The New Groovement, Bučan Bučan, Kikeyambay and High Society.
We are excited to announce that the FernFest Field of Dreams (the Vic High field) will be back for its second year! The Field is going to be all things fun. In addition to its own mini stage, we’ve got kid’s activities like balloon twisting, tie dye, a cardboard castle, face-painting, and more. Keep an eye out for clowns, magicians, storytellers, and hula hoopers! Don’t worry parents; we balance this circus extravaganza with a by-donation massage tent from ViVi Therapy.
FernFest always leaves you with a sense of wonder and celebration. The goal is to bring people together in the spirit of fun and shared experiences. Thank you to all the local businesses, silent auction donors, musicians, artists, and volunteers who come together every year to make this event possible! There is no better place to be on the longest days of the year.
For a the full program of events, check out http://fernwoodnrg.ca/events-directory/fernfest/
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Pollination Education Day on June 14th!
May 28, 2014
Without pollinators, humans and wildlife wouldn’t have much to eat! Bees, butterflies, wasps and even bats, ants, birds and beetles pollinate over 90% of the planet’s flowering plants and over 75% of human food crops.
Join us on Saturday June 14th from 10am-2pm for a day of education about creating habitat for pollinators, and what to plant in your garden to attract these valuable animals and insects.
We will also be hosting two free workshops:
Mason Bees from 10:00am-11:00am
Natural Beekeeping from 1:00pm-2:00pm
No registration is necessary, just come by and enjoy learning from local experts!
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April 5, 2014
It’s that time of year again where we gather to review the past year, our plans for the new year, enjoy delicious food, and learn something new. This year’s AGM speaker will be Cat Orr. Cat will be speaking about some exciting new initiatives with rainwater catchment in schools. We will also be voting on the 2013 budget and will be voting on some membership pricing and benefits. Your input is vital – so we hope to see you there!
Everyone is welcome to attend the AGM. Members who have been in good standing with the Compost Education Centre have voting rights at the meeting.
When: Sunday April 13th, 1:00-3:00pm
Where: The straw bale building at the Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St
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April 4, 2014
If the rainy days of early spring are getting you down, try thinking about rainwater as your friend and ally in the garden! In Victoria, we receive an average of 2 feet of rainfall each year. Most of the rain that hits our properties and streets is flushed away through a complex stormwater collection infrastructure and pours into harbours, lakes and river systems, often taking harmful pollutants and heavy metals with it. By collecting and storing rainwater in your property, you can help prevent these pollutants from entering our waterways and treat rainwater as the precious resource it is.
Rainwater collected from a rooftop can be a high quality water source, as it contains none of the chlorine found in centralized water supplies and is the perfect temperature for plants, which makes it ideal for use in the garden. Stored rainwater provides an ideal source of readily available water, particularly during long dry summers or in locations facing declining groundwater levels. Rain gardens, permeable paving, green roofs, rain barrels, cisterns and infiltration chambers are all examples of rainwater management methods. They can create natural, beautiful landscapes and public spaces.
Join us in our fabulous demonstration gardens to learn more about rainwater harvesting systems and practices in your community. In partnership with the CRD, we’ll be bringing together community and municipal groups involved in rainwater management, as well as hosting two free workshops about stormwater education, rainwater harvesting, and choosing the right systems. You will be entered to win a free rain barrel too!
Register for a FREE rainwater harvesting workshop here!
Rainy Days has received generous support from RBC and is proudly supported by the CRD.
Subsidized rain cisterns will be available on a first come first serve basis, with 10 of each size available for purchase. Limit one per household, payment options include credit card, debit, cash or cheque. Pick-up of the cisterns will be at Van Isle Water Systems with proof of purchase – 461 Dupplin Road, Victoria Store Hours: 7.30am-5.00pm Weekdays, 8.00am-Noon Saturdays.
400 Gallon (1818 Liters) Slimline Rain Tank complete with All-in-One Downspout Diverter with 6’ of Flex Pipe and easy to install Overflow and Drain Kit / Cost $587.72. Savings of over 60%!
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