Community Composting: Johnson-Su Bioreactor Workshop

📅 Date: Sunday, April 12, 2026

⏰ Time: 10:00 - a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Note that the start time has been updated so we can avoid any thunderstorm.)

📍 Location: Myco Research Station at Circle Acres Preserve

Join us for a hands-on workshop building Johnson-Su bioreactors—one of the simplest and most effective ways to grow beneficial soil microbes at home!

Johnson-Su bioreactors are a low-maintenance composting system developed by husband and wife, Dr. David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su, which produces a highly fungal soil amendment capable of supporting the health of trees, gardens, and landscapes. In this workshop, we’ll be building a modified version of the design that makes it even easier for backyard use.

Participants will help construct several reactors together while learning how and why the system works (from construction to feedstocks) and how the finished compost can be applied to improve soil & plant health.

This workshop is part of a "Healthy Soils, Healthy Trees" research project at Circle Acres Research Station exploring how different feedstock “recipes” influence the microbiome that develops in the reactors. We will share our hypothesis, experimental design and data collection plan with any interested citizen scientists!

Come get your hands dirty and learn a powerful, practical tool for improving the health of your soil, trees, and gardens.