Come learn the basics of how to preserve the abundance from your garden or local farmers. We will learn the basics of dehydrating making use of the Compost Education Centre’s two solar dryers (which are available for loan!) We’ll also cover freezing, storing, and hot water bath canning. Preserving foods is not only a delicious way to taste summer in the dark rainy days of winter, but it is also an act of sustainability and creates more security in the food system.
GET INVOLVED
Book an Adult Workshop
Gain new skills and knowledge with the Compost Education Centre! Learn more about our classes. Looking to register for one of our public workshops? Click here.
We are happy to come to your organization and share knowledge about the topics listed below. Online options are also possible, and workshops can be delivered to your group on Wednesdays through Saturdays. Daytime offerings are preferred, but evenings are also possible.
Custom workshops are also available. Please be in touch using the form below to share what you are looking for. Composting Basics, Worm Composting, and Soil Life workshops can be shortened for a one hour-long “lunch and learn” format.
Workshops
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Food Preservation Basics (onsite)
Contact for price quote · 1-2 hrs
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Seedling Starting
Contact for price quote · 1-2 hrs
Learn simple techniques for analysing your soil quality through this hands-on workshop
We’ll measure the physical and biological quality of soil using the following practical tools you can also use at home:
- Soil texture test
- Soil aggregation test (slake test)
- Water infiltration rate
- Earthworm count
- Rizosheath assessment
- Nodulation of legumes
Knowing these details can help inform next steps for stewarding your soil, and provide important baseline information for your gardening journey.
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Practical Tools for Measuring Soil Health
Contact for price quote · 1-2 hrs
Learn simple techniques for analysing your soil quality through this hands-on workshop
We’ll measure the physical and biological quality of soil using the following practical tools you can also use at home:
- Soil texture test
- Soil aggregation test (slake test)
- Water infiltration rate
- Earthworm count
- Rizosheath assessment
- Nodulation of legumes
Knowing these details can help inform next steps for stewarding your soil, and provide important baseline information for your gardening journey.
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Composting for Businesses
Contact for price quote · 1 hrs
Join us for an eye-opening discussion on how businesses can tackle food waste and composting practices!
Are you a business owner or employee of a business in the Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island that creates a lot of unavoidable or avoidable food waste (think – vegetable trimmings, spent coffee grounds, past due food, plate scrapings, employee lunch time waste etc.)? Do you have a good system of avoiding this food waste or composting the unavoidable food waste? If you’re curious about these questions – attend this free webinar to learn more from the Compost Education Centre about what is possible at your business. Learn the possibilities for:
- Avoiding food waste in the first place
- How to process all sorts of food waste in a sustainable, affordable, responsible way
- Explore different options for onsite, and offsite composting
- Saving money
- And understand why it all matters
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Fermenting Kombucha
Contact for price quote · 1-1.5 hrs
Start brewing your own yummy, good for your tummy, fermented Kombucha with this crash course. Having mysterious histories, these fermented, probiotic rich delicacies are known for being full of good things that promote overall digestive wellness. They are delicious and satisfying and there is a great number of ways you can flavor your goods! In this workshop we’ll go over the basics of how to ferment kombucha, and we’ll learn how to create effervescent kombucha with unique flavoring, like purchased kombuchas so often have.
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Food Preservation Basics (offsite)
Contact for price quote · 1-2 hrs
Come learn the basics of how to preserve the abundance from your garden or local farmers. We will learn the basics of dehydrating, we’ll cover how best to freeze foods, store foods, and we’ll learn the science behind hot water bath canning and fermenting too. Preserving foods is not only a delicious way to taste summer in the dark rainy days of winter, but it is also an act of sustainability and creates more security in the food system.
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Worm Composting
$200 · 1-2 hrs
Everything you need to know about starting up and maintaining a worm bin compost system, also known as vermicomposting. Perfect for small space composting and apartment living, or in addition to other composting systems you already have started at your home. Vermicompost is every gardener’s dream as a finished soil amendment, and serves as a fast, easy food waste diversion tool.
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Advanced Composting
$200 · 1-2 hrs
Advanced Composting aims to broaden the scope of participants’ knowledge of composting methods. Topics covered will include dynamic accumulators and hot composting, compost tea, in-situ composting methods and humanure.
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Composting Basics
$200 · 1.5 hrs
What is the recipe for compost success and why does composting matter? This workshop will explore the answer to these questions, and will offer instructions on what it takes to produce an amendment for your garden that is rich in beneficial microorganisms and nutrients! We’ll cover the 6 factors for composting success, how to choose the best composting system for your needs and how to increase the rodent resistance of your compost pile.