Tag: Victoria

In this workshop students will learn the main steps used in cultivating mushrooms at home using low tech methods. The lecture will include basic fungal biology, information on tools needed to grow mushrooms, making liquid culture, grain spawn and preparation of straw for Oyster mushrooms and for King Stropharia. For the hands-on part, students will…

In situ composting, or soil building in the form of Sheet Mulching is a fast process of building fertile soil where there isn’t any, converting lawn landscapes into active growing gardens, or simply adding more nutrients to existing gardens. We’ll first learn about the principles behind sheet mulching and why/how it works, then we’ll build…

Bring your bee houses that have been out for the growing season and we will learn how to harvest the cocoons of our native mason bees, and do that harvesting together. We will identify any pests and parasites that we encounter, learn how to clean the cocoons properly leaving the houses ready for the spring.…

The soil under our feet is teeming with a web of microscopic life, whose complex interactions support all other terrestrial life. Healthy soils feature an intact and diverse microbial food web, which sustain nutrient cycles and maintain soil structure. Under the microscope, together we will observe living soil microbes, and gain an understanding of the…

This workshop aims to broaden the scope of participants’ knowledge of composting methods and will cover methods of composting that require more work and attention. Topics covered will include hot composting to produce big quantities of nutrient rich, living compost quickly, increasing the biology and nutrients in your compost pile using dynamic accumulators, how to…

In this workshop we’ll focus on all the best practices when it comes to growing and harvesting garlic as well as garlic history, general info and learning about the different garlic groups. From bed prep and ammending your garlic, to seed selection, through to tending growing garlic and how to harvest, cure and store it.…

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…

What is the recipe for compost success and why does composting matter? This workshop will explore the answers 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…

Pruning fruit trees in the summer? That’s right! It can be done…and we’ll show you how in this introduction to the wonders of summer pruning for fruit trees. While most pruning happens in the winter, for backyard fruit trees, summer pruning provides some important advantages to consider. Damage repair, size control, disease management, enhancing fruit…

Are you facing barriers to growing your own food and have received seedlings free of charge from Get Growing Victoria, but aren’t sure how to tend those little baby seedlings you just received? Want to grow even more of your own food but not sure how to do it all? Join the Compost Education Centre’s…