The Compost Education Centre turns 30

›› Kayla Siefried

Celebrating 30 years in service is no small deal. And that’s what the ­Compost Education Centre (CEC) is doing in 2022—­celebrating all the composting, gardening, and conservation themed ­education we’ve been providing for 30 years to Fernwood and CRD residents alike!

As we take stock of the past 30 years, we recall major milestones: Pumpkin Smash compost events, the building of our straw bale classroom building, millions of kgs of food waste diverted from the landfill, thousands of workshops taught to students, kilos of food grown for local food banks through the Grow a Row Program, literally multiple millions of composting questions answered—I could go on. And still, our programming is needed, desired, and ­valued, after all this time!

If you’ve experienced our ­programming anytime in the past 30 years and you have a story you’d like to share about how our resources and education inspired you, please email them to office@compost.bc.ca and we’ll share them in our newsletter. It’s so fantastic to hear from folks who were here at the CEC’s inception, people who went to a workshop in 1999, people who volunteered at the centre in 2002. To show your appreciation for the work we do, consider making a one-time tax-deductible donation to us, or becoming a sustaining donor: compost.bc.ca/donate.

If you’ve never experienced our programing or resources, please stop by! We are open Wednesdays to Saturdays and have plenty of free resources available, and we sell compost bins and have our new 2022 seed supply in for sale. Or sign up for one of our 2022 workshops—they are plentiful, and the lineup is incredible, check that out at compost.bc.ca/adult-education.

And don’t forget: February is the perfect time to get planning and preparing your coming summertime garden! We’re here to help—feel free to give us a call with your composting and gardening questions and sign up for one of our early season gardening workshops. May 2022 be abundant in the garden for us, our neighbours, our soil microbe pals, and all the flying critters that make our gardens home.