Al Cairo prepares shredded garden waste and fills the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor at Woodcock Garden. (Photo courtesy of Al Cairo)

Al Cairo prepares shredded garden waste and fills the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor at Woodcock Garden. (Photo courtesy of Al Cairo)

Green Thumbs series to consider composting in time of climate change

PORT ANGELES — Al Cairo, who built a Johnson-Su Bioreactor along with help from like-minded Master Gardeners in 2018 and 2019 at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden in Sequim, will present “Fungal Dominant Composting in this Time of Climate Change” at noon on Thursday on Zoom.

Cairo’s presentation is part of the Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series and will examine today’s critical climate reality and how gardeners can actively participate in drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide.

He will inform attendees about the soil food web and how to build and use the Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor to create a fungal-dominant compost. This knowledge will allow gardeners to use alternative strategies to grow crops, eliminate chemical inputs, plowing and tilling, event organizers said.

For the Zoom link, visit the WSU Clallam County Extension website at extension.wsu.edu/clallam. To join by phone, call 253-215-8782 (meeting ID 951 3978 9694, passcode 791808).

Cairo earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with a concentration in optical methods and biotechnology from State University of New York.

He worked for 27 years at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo and 13 years at Parke-Davis, Pfizer, Celera Diagnostics and Quest Diagnostics in San Francisco’s East Bay area, in various fields including tissue culture virology, electron microscopy, automated DNA synthesis and sequencing and liquid handling robotics.

Sponsored by WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners, the Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series seeks to provide home gardeners with education on research-based sustainable garden practices in Clallam County.

The series is offered via streaming presentations from noon to 1 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday of each month through October. Scheduled presentations are subject to change.

For more information, call 360-565-2679.

More in Life

A group of people play American Mahjong at the Harmony Center of Sequim in the activities room, which is large and well-lit, with Wi-Fi, a 70-inch television, folding tables and chairs. (Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Harmony Center cultivates peace through connection

Nonprofit offers free activity space in Sequim

A GROWING CONCERN: Fall for these summer foliage plants

IN KEEPING WITH the other week’s article, let us add to our… Continue reading

Kimi Robertson
Freedom Farm Hoof Beats member Lily Robertson and her horse Queen of Hearts (Ruby) showed excellent style and form, placing first in the 95-meter jumper class at the Bainbridge Saddle Club’s first Hunter/Jumper Show of the season.
HORSEPLAY: Spring is the perfect time to go horse riding

SPRING IS IN the air, everywhere I look around. Spring is in… Continue reading

ISSUES OF FAITH: Meeting God where we are

SOME YEARS AGO, I worked with a deacon who used the phrase… Continue reading

Unity in Port Townsend planning for Sunday services

Rhonda Hull will present a Mother’s Day message at… Continue reading

Jamal Rahman
Rahman scheduled for OUUF program

The Imam Jamal Rahman will present “Honoring and Embracing… Continue reading

Rev. Bill Evans
Speaker scheduled for Sunday service at Unity in Olympics

The Rev. William Evans will present “Storytime” at 10:30… Continue reading

Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Bob Clark and Mabel Sorensen, two of the four surviving members of Sequim High School’s class of 1947, met for lunch last month. It was also Sorensen’s 96th birthday.
Two Sequim High School graduates meet for 78th reunion

Luncheon brings together friends who enjoy living in small town

An editorial cartoon from the January 17, 1933 Port Angeles Evening News.
BACK WHEN: This isn’t the first trade war for the US or Olympic Peninsula

AN OLD FRIEND of mine sent me some old Port Angeles newspapers.… Continue reading

A GROWING CONCERN: Grow with love for Mother’s Day

WITH MOTHER’S DAY fast approaching all across the nation, greenhouses and nurseries… Continue reading

ISSUES OF FAITH: Passover and empathy in Judaism

THOUGH PASSOVER IS over, the lessons and themes continue to resonate. Two… Continue reading

William Murray MacDonald
St. Paul’s Episcopal speaker scheduled

The Rev. William Murray MacDonald will present “Paul on… Continue reading