Join the BEAM TEAM supports the research of NMSU microbiologist David C. Johnson, a microbiologist at NMSU and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural Research, who began seven years ago to investigate compost, seeking to understand its most essential attributes. His discovery that microbial diversity and density are the primary factors in healthy soil and effective carbon sequestration, led David and his wife, Hui Chen, to developed a no-turn composting bio-reactor that makes fungi-rich compost that can be used as a soil and seed inoculant. Results of using BEAM (Bioactive Environmental Agricultural Management.) on test plots and farms have surpassed all conventional expectations for both soil productivity and J carbon sequestration. Our workshop, presented by the Regenerative Agriculture Group of 350 Sonoma, will offer a summary presentation of Dr. Johnson’s research and discuss how to build and maintain a bioreactor and join the BEAM team, a group of farmers, ranchers, grape growers, orchardists and gardeners who are organizing to do test plots to assess BEAM’s effectiveness in a variety of growing situations and climates.
BEAM is an addition to our understanding and potential use of compost and, more importantly, to our relationship with the teeming natural world under our feet that is our source of life on this planet. It is meant to be used with permaculture practices such as no till, companion planting and ground cover. Our 350 group, concerned primarily with climate change, collaborated with Farmer’s Guild and CAFF to bring Dr. Johnson to Healdsburg SHED last April.
Friday Oct 6| 5pm| Willow Grove
