Spring Plant Sale: May 9, 10am-2pm. 1202 Yukon St.

Compost Education Centre > Get Involved > Book a Child & Youth workshop

GET INVOLVED

Book a Child & Youth Workshop

Looking to bring hands-on environmental education into your classroom? Look no further than our workshops for children and youth!

Book a child and youth workshop in your classroom, or come visit our teaching gardens! We offer a variety of programming for learners from preschool to grade 12. Inquire about the possibility of French composting workshops for immersion classes from kindergarten to grade 8!

Accessibility Information

Our educators aim to make our workshops accessible and enjoyable for students with diverse needs. Get in touch if you have students who may benefit from accommodations so that we can best prepare for your workshop. For information about accessibility on our site during visits, see here.

Testimonials

“It was very apparent that the kids and their parents thoroughly enjoyed the program. The day after the program I had one little guy, who attended the program, ask me to find him books on composting as his family were going to build a compost!”

“I liked how experiential the tour was for the children. The facilitator was skilled at maintaining the children’s attention and keeping them interested.”

“Elora was very interactive, engaging, and fun! She noticed when the children needed to move and was willing to respond to many questions, comments, and student inquiries!”

  • Spring Plant Sale – May 9th, 2026

    Save the Date! The Spring plant sale will be held on May 9th, 2026 from 10am-2pm. The plant sale will take place in Haegert Park (1202 Yukon St.) one block from our site on North Park street. Bring a blanket or a picnic so you can enjoy the music in the shade of the giant…

    Save the Date! The Spring plant sale will be held on May 9th, 2026 from 10am-2pm. The plant sale will take place in Haegert Park (1202 Yukon St.) one block from our site on North Park street. Bring a blanket or a picnic so you can enjoy the music in the shade of the giant Sequoia tree. Entry by donation. No one turned away from lack of funds. Dogs welcome.

    The Spring Organic Plant Sale features local farmers offering a wide variety of organically grown vegetable, flower and herb seedlings to get you off to a successful start this growing season.

    What you can look forward to:

    • The largest selection of organically grown heirloom tomato varieties all in one place for easy shopping

    • Organically grown vegetable starts from arugula to zucchini

    • Native plants for your low maintenance garden

    • Perennial edibles like berry bushes and other fruiting shrubs

    • Medicinal herbs like English lavender, chamomile and yarrow

    • Culinary herbs like Genovese basil, dill and chives

    • Companion plants like marigolds, sweet cicely and comfrey

    Accessibility Information

    The sale will be happening in Haegert park which is grassy and slightly sloped, there are curb cuts at various entrance points to get into the park.

    Visitors can park at the Vic High parking lot between Gladstone Avenue and Grant St. The parking lot is a 200m walk from Haegert Park.

    Thank you to our sponsors:

    • Hatchet & Seed
    • LADR Landscape Architects
    • Biophilia Collective
    • Country Grocer
    • Cold Comfort
    • Habit Coffee
    • Patagonia Victoria
    • The Private Network
    • Zero Waste Emporium
    • Chek News
    • West Coast Seeds

    The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, specifically the land of the Lekwungen speaking people—the Xwsepsum and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa’wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

  • Fall Organic Plant Sale on Saturday August 27th!

    Our annual August Organic Plant Sale is coming up on Saturday Aug 27th, 10am-2pm at the Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St! The sale is a great chance to get local, organic veggie starts for winter growing! Come on out to the little sister of our spring organic plant sale and get your greens…

    AugustPlantSale Poster 2016

    Our annual August Organic Plant Sale is coming up on Saturday Aug 27th, 10am-2pm at the Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St!

    The sale is a great chance to get local, organic veggie starts for winter growing! Come on out to the little sister of our spring organic plant sale and get your greens for the winter. Kale, broccoli, cabbage, salad greens, culinary herbs, medicinal herbs and much, much more will be available.

    Farmers:

    Save

  • You’re invited to the Compost Education Centre AGM on Sat April 23rd!

    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!   Join us for our AGM in our urban oasis in the heart of Fernwood at 1216 North Park Street.   The AGM will take place from 1:00-3:00 on…

    oca and jollies

    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!   Join us for our AGM in our urban oasis in the heart of Fernwood at 1216 North Park Street.   The AGM will take place from 1:00-3:00 on Saturday April 23rd.

    Our knowledgeable Site Manager Alysha will be leading an interactive site tour through our beautiful demonstration gardens where you can learn firsthand about the many sustainable systems and permaculture techniques we have in place, including our new aquaponics system, rainwater harvesting systems and the many options we have for on-site food waste reduction and diversion.

    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.  Your input is vital – so we hope to see you there!

    To view the report in PDF format, click here.

  • Spring Organic Plant Sale Saturday May 7th

    Saturday, May 7th from 10am-2pm!  Amazing, all-organic, all-local veggie, herb and flower starts for your garden sold right outside the Compost Education Centre at 1216 North Park St.!

    Saturday, May 7th from 10am-2pm!  Amazing, all-organic, all-local veggie, herb and flower starts for your garden sold right outside the Compost Education Centre at 1216 North Park St.!

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  • Rainwater Harvesting Education Day is April 16th!

    We are thrilled to be hosting two great rainwater harvesting workshops, as well as a stormwater management specialist from the City of Victoria who will be on-hand to answer questions! But that’s not all — our wonderful friends at Van Isle Water  are offering all workshop attendees a coupon that can be redeemed for 15% off all rainwater…

    Rainy-Days-Compost-Ed-Centre-2016-Poster-Letter (1)

    We are thrilled to be hosting two great rainwater harvesting workshops, as well as a stormwater management specialist from the City of Victoria who will be on-hand to answer questions!

    But that’s not all — our wonderful friends at Van Isle Water  are offering all workshop attendees a coupon that can be redeemed for 15% off all rainwater harvesting materials!

    INTRO TO RAINWATER HARVESTING, 10:00am-12:00pm, $20.   Register here.
    This introductory workshop is perfect for people who are keen to start learning all about rainwater harvesting. The workshop will define and explain watersheds, lay out the principles of rainwater harvesting, define terms such as greywater and blackwater, and go over the laundry to landscape system of rainwater containment using techniques such as cisterns and earthworks.

    RAINWATER HARVESTING INTEGRATED DESIGN, 2:00-4:00pm, $20.  Register here.
    This workshop will help you get started designing a rainwater harvesting system for your household. We will cover site assessment, water budgeting, design work, and evaluation of different systems. Please bring a plan/overhead view of your site if possible, as we will be doing hands-on work.

  • Compost Education Centre Spring Fundraiser on April 6th!

    Join us for our Spring Fundraiser to give back to the earth while having fun, chatting with friendly folks and bidding on fantastic silent auction items! The wonderful musical talent that is the Blackwood Two will be performing their acoustic melodies and your ticket includes a pint of Hoyne beer and an appetizer buffet.  Tickets are…

    For-the-Love-Soil-Poster-2016

    Join us for our Spring Fundraiser to give back to the earth while having fun, chatting with friendly folks and bidding on fantastic silent auction items!

    The wonderful musical talent that is the Blackwood Two will be performing their acoustic melodies and your ticket includes a pint of Hoyne beer and an appetizer buffet.  Tickets are $25 and are available online through Eventbrite.

    Proceeds from the fundraiser will directly fund our school workshops and projects such as the Healing City Soils Project, an initiative offering free soil tests to analyze Victoria’s soils and create a virtual “soil health” map of Victoria. Fundraising allows us to continue these great projects and to educate children and adults about the importance of soil conservation, composting and creating and sustaining local food systems.

    Bid on fantastic silent auction items generously donated by:

     

  • Brand new factsheets!

    We are excited to share two new factsheets with you!  We have been getting lots of inquiries about tumbler composters and bokashi and we decided to put together a factsheet for each one to help answer your questions and spark your interest.  If the descriptions below spark your interest, check out the new additions on…

    We are excited to share two new factsheets with you!  We have been getting lots of inquiries about tumbler composters and bokashi and we decided to put together a factsheet for each one to help answer your questions and spark your interest.  If the descriptions below spark your interest, check out the new additions on our factsheets page.

    bokashi

    Bokashi is a Japanese term meaning “fermented organic matter”. Different from composting, which is aerobic, it is an anaerobic process that allows a person to deal with a wide variety of food waste on-site. Bokashi harnesses the power of effective microorganisms (EM) dehydrated onto a cereal base to carry out the fermentation process . It is best used as a partner to a compost pile, because you will need a place to compost the ‘spent’ material once it has finished going through the bokashi process. It is a great alternative to the green cone food digester as it breaks down the same types of materials but doesn’t need sunlight or to be buried down 2 feet in your garden work. You can make your own system or purchase a ready-to-use unit.

     

    tumbler

    In general, tumbler composters are in the form of a barrel mounted on a stand so the unit can be turned or “tumbled” around a central axis.  They can be mounted horizontally or vertically, both work  well.  Turning these units easily incorporates air into the material inside the tumbler, which can speed up the decomposition process.  It is possible that you may get a finished product faster than with passive backyard composting due to the increased aeration that tumblers make possible.  However, beware of manufacturers that say you will have finished compost in three weeks or less – anything that looks finished in this short amount of time will be unstable and need to sit for at least 6-8 weeks longer to cure.

     

    greenhouse

    When we built our new greenhouse wanted the plans for this project to be free and readily accessible.  As such, this factsheet includes a budget and materials list for the greenhouse, a list of the lessons I learned, and some photos of the building process.

     

  • November 7th is Mushroom Education Day!

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