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NOFA OLC Update
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If you have stories, articles, notices or suggestions for this newsletter, email Carol | |
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Congratulations and Welcome... | ...to the nearly 200 newly accredited Organic Land Care Professionals, who completed the 5-day course and passed the accrediting examination in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island this winter. You are making "this good earth" even better! Thank you. 2009 New Haven AOLCP Course Participants
For all accreditation issues, contact Carol Hannon. |
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Are you reaccredited for 2009? |
Please act promptly to update your accreditation and be listed in NOFA's 2009 Guide as an Organic Land Care Professional. Visit the Organic Land Care website now to discover timely credit opportunities. If you have any questions about the status of your accreditation, email Carol or call (203) 888-5146. |
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Getting Involved! Thank you, Volunteers at the NOFA Organic Land Care Courses!
Your help with everything from food setup to registration was indispensable, and your interaction with students in the course was greatly appreciated. Please know how much you are valued. Many, many thanks.
Calling for Articles
It is not too late to share a discovery or a learning experience with your NOFA accredited colleagues in an article for the 2010 Guide. Please send your contribution right away to Carol.
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Employment Opportunity |
Landscape Foreman wanted
Camilla Worden Garden Design LLC
Danbury, CT
LIFE IS GOOD! Come join our happy team! Well-established landscaper seeks active foreman to
manage crews on our beautiful properties in CT and NY.
Install, maintain, and assist in design of high-end residential and commercial
landscapes. We emphasize ecologically-friendly products and services. If you are knowledgeable, self-motivated and professional,
and if you enjoy a diversity of tasks,then this job is for you!
Three years horticultural experience and a Driver's License are a minimum. Equipment operation and knowledge of Spanish is helpful. College degree desirable, but not essential.
It's more important that you are reliable and hard-working and enjoy seeing a
job well done.
Apply to Camilla Worden.
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 AOLCP Credit Opportunities Please view Credit Opportunities at the Organic Land Care website for complete information and useful links:
March 11: Making and Customizing Compost Tea: A Hands-on Advanced Professional Seminar - W Townsend,
MA
March 12: UConn Perennial Plant Conference- Storrs, CT
March 15: High Tunnels for Season Extension with Laughing Dog Farm's Dan Botkin--Gill, MA
March 21: CT Master Gardener's Annual Symposium XVI: Gardeners Going Green - Manchester, CT
March 30-31: Natural Lawn & Turf Mgmt Training for Lawn Care Professionals - Sturbridge, MA
April 25: Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs - location TBA (Eastern MA)Here are
June 3-August 26: Plant Identification in New England - Landscape Institute,Cambridge, MA
July24-26 & August 13-15: Field Botany of New England - Landscape Inst., Cambridge, MA and Newry, ME
August 1: Medicinal Herbs with Dawn Pavone - Bird House Garden Center, Boxborough, MA
August 23& Sept. 18-20: Field Botany of New England II - Landscape Inst., Cambridge, MA and Newry, ME
October 4: Seed-saving: keeping your favorites for next year with Laughing Dog Farm's Dan Botkin - Gill, MA |
An Important Reminder
Training for Transition to Organic Athletic Turf2008 DEP Pilot Project in Watertown, CT If you are an AOLCP who has contracted with one or more CT
municipalities to do landscape consulting or management, please email Bill Duesing or call (203) 888-5146. NOFA, in partnership with the CT DEP, will sponsor training for Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals (AOLCPs) who work with CT municipalities in order to prepare them to comply with legislation banning pesticides on K-8 school grounds, effective beginning on July 1, 2009. The training will focus on making the transition from conventional to organic land care of athletic fields and will include sessions with leaders in organic turfgrass management. Guidance on writing and implementing an organic land care plan for a town athletic field will be provided. |
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Also of Interest
For the latest CT NOFA news, check out their e-news letters too!
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"Lawns'll Be 'Greener' In Branford"
In a unanimous decision, the Board of Selectmen last week
adopted a resolution asking town residents to voluntarily give up pesticides
and chemical fertilizers in favor of organic care for their lawns. In what many say is a major environmental step, the board
asked residents to do what the town is already doing at the Green and at
its parks and ballfields: Use organic products for various turfs. In an interview, Dr. Jerry Silbert of Watershed
Partnership Inc., said that Branford joins Milford, Plainfield and Greenwich
in asking residents to make the switch. Cheshire is in the process, he said,
and he is working with Guilford and Madison. The Guilford Green is now
organically cared for. (The Branford Eagle, February 23, 2009, by Marcia Chambers)
New Publication: INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS FOR TURF ON SCHOOL PROPERTIES AND SPORTS FIELDS
By outlining the basis for a complete IPM system, these protocols aim to increase pest management efficiency, reduce the reliance on pesticides, and protect the environment. This project was part of a legislatively funded initiative undertaken by the University of Massachusetts Extension Turf Program in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
The publication can be ordered online. Alternatively, call the UMass Extension Bookstore at (413) 545-2717. Bulk discounts are available. For content-related questions, call the UMass Extension Turf Program at 508-892-0382 or e-mail School turf.
The Truth About Cats, Dogs, and Lawn Chemicals: Five steps toward green lawns and healthy pets.
 
View this video for a moving lesson about pets... which applies to children as well.
Rodale's LaSalle urges expansion of organic farming to mitigate impacts of warming
During an OnPoint interview, Timothy LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute, discusses research conducted by Rodale that shows significant declines in greenhouse gas emissions when organic farming practices are used.
2009 Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory
(For Rhode
Island & Southeastern New England)
Published by
Toxics Information Project (TIP)
P.O. Box 40441, Providence, RI
02940
Tel.
401-351-9193. E-Mail.
Compiled
& Edited by Liberty
Goodwin, TIP Director
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