Gardening and Composting Supplies / Kitchen Scrap Collection / Rainwater Harvesting / Soil Testing / Community Partners and Food Related Organizations / Interesting Info

Gardening and Composting Supplies

Where To Buy Soil
Small Quantities (in plastic bags):
Look for something with some Sea Soil, or Earthbank fish compost to ensure you will have some good nutrients in the soil. If the soil you purchase does not have this, you will need to supplement nutrients (i.e. with compost or manures!) to grow annual vegetables sucessfully.
-Grocery stores (during spring and summer)
-Any nursery or garden centre (e.g. GardenWorks, Dig This, etc)

Large Quantities (truck loads):
–Integrity Sales and Distributors:  2180 Keating Cross Rd, Saanichton, BC V8M 2A6, 250-544-2072
–Tuf Turf:  4060 Blenkinsop Rd, Victoria, BC V8X 2C2, 250-721-5300

Where to buy Local seeds
Where to purchase/acquire local seeds:
-At the Compost Education Centre of course! We currently carry a wide selection from Full Circle Seeds, a Sooke based Seed Farm.
Local Seed Companies:
-Full Circle Seeds
-Metchosin Farms
-Salt Spring Seeds
-Sannich Organics Seeds
-BC Eco Seed Coop
-You can borrow seeds from the Victoria Seed Library
Stores that sell seeds:
-The Compost Education Centre
–Buckerfield’s
–Integrity Sales and Distributors:  2180 Keating Cross Rd, Saanichton, BC V8M 2A6, 250-544-2072
–Garden Works
–The Local General Store

Where to buy good quality woodchips

Sooke Soil and Landscape these folks have a variety of products available and can deliver

Where to buy worms
We maintain a list of worm breeders in town – please call (250-386-9676) or email (office@compost.bc.ca) to get their names and phone numbers.

Where to buy Compost Bins
–The Compost Education Centre, of course!
-If you can’t make it into the Compost Ed Centre, green cone food digesters can now be purchased online through our distributor.
–Eco Living Bokashi is carried at many retailers in Victoria, Saanich and Sidney
–Cowichan Compost Bokashi is also widely available
-The Hungry Bin is a larger scale vermicompost system available for order from Vancouver

Where to get manure
-If you take a drive down West Saanich Rd you will find lots of farms that have bags of manure for sale at the end of their driveways
-Rumour has it that you can take a bucket to the horse drawn carriage tour operators in James Bay towards the end of their working day and collect horse manure
–UsedVictoria always has lots of listings for all varieties of manure

Where to get straw by the bale or smaller quantities in bag
–Borden Mercantile
–Willow Wind

Where to get hardware cloth (for building compost bins or rodent proofing)
–Castle Building Supplies (sold by the foot, it’s 36″ wide)

Pallets (for building a three-bin system — check out our plans here)
–Victoria Bindery/First Choice Books:  These folks are compost enthusiasts and hold onto primo pallets for folks who want to use them to build composters.  2817 Quesnel St, 250-383-6353. Call ahead to request pallets, they are open Monday-Friday.
–The Pallet Bible is a great guide to finding, inspecting and dismantling pallets for all your building needs

Kitchen Scrap Collection And Recycling Information

Information on the CRD Regional Kitchen Scraps Strategy
–Tools, FAQs and updates on the CRD website

Kitchen scrap collection info by municipality
–Esquimalt
–Oak Bay
–Saanich
–Victoria

Kitchen Scrap Collection Services
–Pedal to Petal:  Bicycle powered kitchen scrap pick-up!
–Refuse:  Residential and commercial kitchen scrap pick-up service

Information on Recycling
–My Recyclopedia:  A-Z database about what can be recycled in the CRD and where to go to do so

Rainwater Harvesting

–Van Isle Water: This local business sells cisterns and rain barrels and their staff are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. 461 Dupplin Rd, (250) 383-7145
–Capital Regional District:  Their website includes lots of informational brochures and guides
–City of Victoria:  Lots of information as well as listings of rain gardens in Victoria
–CANARM (Canadian Association for Rainwater Management):  A resource for education, awareness, training, and connectivity for various groups and individuals involved in the rainwater industry

Soil Testing

–MB Labs:  soil testing for fertility and contamination
–Healing City Soils: a project of the Compost Education Centre – free soil contaminant testing

Community Partners and Food related organizations

–Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group
–Fernwood Community Association These folks run the allotment gardens that the Compost Education Centre shares space with, contact them to get on the garden waitlist.
–Capital Regional District  Core funding for the Compost Education Centre is generously provided by the CRD
–City of Victoria Check out their growing in the city programs
–LifeCycles Project:  Cultivating community health from the ground up by connecting people, the food they eat and the land it comes from
–CRFAIR these folks promote healthy and secure food systems, they also put on the annual conference: “The Good Food Summit”
–The Good Food Network A group of community organizations that are all working toward healthy accessible food in the Capital Regional District
–Indigenous Food Systems Imitative Indigenous led food security organization; this organization offers grants

Friendly Businesses

–Hatchet and Seed Edible landscaping and permaculture consulting
–Organic Gardener’s Pantry  Quality Organic fertilizers and microbial inoculants
–DIY Fungi Mushroom workshops and spawn
–Van Isle Water Great source of rainwater harvesting info, rain barrels and all your rainwater collection needs
–Mason St City Farm  Urban market garden and nursery, also our pals and neighbours
–Tsuga Arboriculture  Steve Ford is a fantastic arborist

Interesting Info, Gardening Education etc.

–Linda Gilkeson and her books, online mailing list, workshops, courses, and plethora of online local gardening wisdom
–Oregon State University Extension Service, has an abundance of free gardening information
–3 Free Ebooks from Gaia College detailing Practical Tips, Products and Soil Testing for Organic Gardeners
–Dishing the Dirt:  The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council put together this comprehensive guide to different composters, all with photos and thorough reviews.  It is an incredible resource!
-Another gem from the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council, this is an online quiz to find your perfect compost system.
-Don’t forget to check out the Compost Education Centre’s free factsheets