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 NOFA ORGANIC LAND CARE PROGRAM
E-News February 2010
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Welcome to Course Graduates in CT and MASS!
Congratulations to the land care professionals who were accredited in the January 2010 five-day courses! We welcome you to the NOFA Organic Land Care Program with great enthusiasm!
Class of 2010, Newburport, MA
If you haven't received an email regarding AOLCP Search, our online directory, including instructions on how to enter your profile, please contact Carol. We hope you will optimize this resource to your professional advantage.
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Five-day course in Rhode Island
Feb. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2010 (Snow Date: Feb. 27)
There is one more opportunity to become a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional this year. Please encourage your
friends and colleagues to "go organic" and call 203-888-5146 to
register. Check out the course brochure at the OLC website. Contact Sheryl (in Rhode
Island) for further information.
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A Call for Photos for the 2010 OLC Guide Cover
Since this is a guide to help homeowners find you, it is the perfect place to highlight your talents! Please consider submitting your photographs for the cover.
 Here are the specs, received from last year's Guide editor:
- The larger the better. Straight
from the digital camera at the highest resolution possible.
- Each submitted image needs to be 2 megapixels or higher. (300 DPI means 300
dots per inch. So for every inch of printed photo there should be at least 300
pixels. A 2"x3" printed picture should be at around 600x900 pixels. A 4"x6"
printed image is 1200x1800 pixels.
- High quality Jpg is fine, as
long as it's at least 2 megapixels.
- "Press Quality/Print Quality" PDF is fine,
however "Print for web" or similar is very bad for PDFs.
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Baystate Organic Certifiers
NOFA O LC is happy to announce the creation of an organic
landscaping products list.
Baystate Organic
Certifiers will maintain this 3rd party list. Baystate will review
products and list those that meet the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care:
Practices for Design and Maintenance of Ecological Landscapes, 5th edition,
(not yet publicly released). For more information, or to apply to Baystate to have your products listed, visit the Baystate website or contact Don Franczyk at 774-872-5544.
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Opportunities for AOLCPs
 Green City Growers, Boston's premiere business
for raised-bed garden installations, is now hiring their Farm Crew for the 2010
season. They are looking for passionate, responsible candidates to do maintenance
on raised-beds around the Boston area. Visit their website or check out the employment opportunity at Craig's List. The Nantucket Historical Association is offering a summer internship, which includes a stipend and housing. Applications are due by March 15, 2010. Please send a letter of interest, resume, and the names and contact information for three references to: Rebecca Miller, Assistant to Bill Tramposch, Executive Director, Nantucket Historical Association, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554, rmiller@nha.org.
Need help?: "Novice horticulturist (2010 NOFA AOLCP) in search
of paid, part-time apprenticeship with NOFA accredited Organic Landcare
Professional in or around the Boston area. Nursery work is
desirable. I am interested in plant propagation, grafting, pruning,
edible landscaping, site design and pest management. About me: both
brainy and brawny; eager to learn. I have years of experience working as a
gardener and on neighborhood beautification projects. My resume is a
available upon request. Please contact me."
An opportunity to act now!
Take a close look at
the fine print on a can of Raid, a bottle of Cutters, a jug of RoundUp, or just
about any pesticide on the market today, and you'll see these
words: "inert ingredients." Inert ingredients are the thousands of
chemicals that the pesticide industry is allowed to keep secret. We've
discovered what some of these chemicals are, and they are anything but
inert. Some cause cancer, genetic damage, reproductive harm, and other
serious health problems.
EPA is accepting public comments on its proposal
until February 22, and it needs your support. Please take action today
to demand your right to know when pesticide companies expose you to
toxic chemicals. And share this vital opportunity with your friends and
family. Here is the Center for Environmental Health website with a petition you can sign onto.
If you want to write your own comment to the EPA (which is more
work, but also carries more weight) you can get more information here.
And you can submit comments directly here.
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AOLCPs in Action...
Virginia Acquario gave an
hour lecture on Organic Land Care to the Master Gardeners of Schenectady
County, NY on February 9, 2010.
 Andrew Keys and Oakleaf Green are back with a second article in
the February 2010 issue of Fine Gardening magazine,
available at better bookstores and magazine sellers everywhere!
Dina Brewster has been busy teaching! She has scheduled two workshops this winter for CT NOFA, two for theFairfield
County Farm Bureau Winter Conference, and still another at Yale University.
Javier Gil participated on the Client Relations Panel at the NOFA five-day course in Newburyport, MA in January and will teach "Compost Tea for the Home Gardener" in March.
Sanne Kure-Jensen offered tips on designing gardens for wildlife--including native plants, habitat and food--at the NO MASS Winter Conference, and she continues to share her beekeeping expertise at workshops in Rhode Island.
Thanks so very much to all who teach, write, and otherwise spread the word of sound organic land care!
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NOFA's Organic Land Care Program Leads the Way!
From the east coast to the far west, educational opportunities in Organic Land Care are growing, with significant support from NOFA's experienced professionals.
Oregon Tilth's program originated when a representative of that organization attended the 5-Day
course in New Haven a few years ago. NOFA OLC Committee member Mike Nadeau was invited to teach in their first course, which took place January 25-29. Mike reported back: "Their Standards and many
course materials are pretty much a left-coast mirror image of ours. They
were very appreciative for all of our help and [for our] being in the forefront of
organic land care education.
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation announced in
January that they, too, are beginning organic land care program. The
BeGreen NY Organic Yards Program is designed as an entry level program,
initiated by the Commissioner, to reduce toxins in the environment. It requires
just a one-day course, an exam and a signed agreement which lets landscapers
use the BeGreen logo. Here again, advice was sought and gratefully received from NOFA OLC Committee members.
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Also of
Interest...
Join us at the Connecticut premier of "A Chemical Reaction" on March 7 at Cinestudio, Trinity College in Hartford. Reception
with light refreshments at 1 pm, movie starts at 2 pm.
Suggested
donation $10 per person to
benefit CT NOFA and its Organic Land Care Program.
You can see a (3:35 minutes) preview of the movie here.
The
winter 2010 edition of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's
P2 View newsletter
is now available. Here are some of the topics:
- Turf's
up! Learn about DEP's organic
land care program for municipal playing fields.
- What's in your
recycling bin? Find out what's new in
Connecticut's recycling universe.
- Planning
on doing some home remodeling? Find out where to get inexpensive and unique building
materials!
For AOLCPs in Rhode Island:
- Check out opportunities offered by the RI Nursery and Landscape Association and consider subscribing to their newsletter.
New RINLA Office Information: Joe Majeika is Interim Executive Director of RINLA. Telephone: 401-377-9030 or (800)758-9260; Fax: 401-377-7090
Address: 98 Chase Hill Road, Ashaway, RI 02804-2223 - It's that time! The Rhode Island Flower & Garden Show is coming to the RI Convention Center--one week earlier than usual, February 18-21
Don't
Miss the ELA Conference February 25
Earn your re-accreditation credits at dynamic workshops and browse the
Eco-Marketplace, full of sustainable and ecologically appropriate products.
Download the ELA brochure and check out the AOLCP Credit Opportunities (below).We hope to see you at on February 25
in Springfield, MA! The January 26, 2010 edition of Land Online-Landscape Architecture News contained an article, entitled "Survey Records Demand for Turfgrass, Lawns--
Saving money, meeting green design benchmarks top
reasons clients request turf
alternatives." Read more here.
An interesting article from Reuters on organic gardening in the UK: Organic farming may help meet climate goals: report.
NOFA is very grateful to all the staff members and volunteers who have "tabled" events this season. The NOFA Organic Land Care Program has been well represented at many recent conferences and trade shows, including the CNLA, the CGKA, the NJNLA, NE Grows, the NOFA Mass Winter Conference, and the Midwest Organic Lawncare
and Landscaping conference in Madison, WI.
Look for us at the Neighborhood Network Conference on Long Island on February 16; the CT and RI Flower & Garden Shows, beginning February 18; the ELA Conference on February 25; and the CT NOFA Winter Conference on March 6. If you are not able to "table," please stop by to say hello in any case. Thanks! back to top ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Current AOLCP Credit Opportunities
FEBRUARY 2010 (cont'd)
February 8, 22, March 1: Landscaping with Native Plants - Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, MA
February 9 and 23: Horticultural Math - Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, MA
Feb. 12-March 14: Permaculture Design Course - Bethlehem, CT
February 13: Berkshire Botanical Garden Annual Conference - Stockbridge, MA
February 16: 11th Annual Organic Turf Show - Farmingdale, NY
Feb. 17-March 10: Pruning for Gardeners - Bronx, NY
February 18-21: Connecticut Flower & Garden Show 2010 - Hartford, CT
February 18: Year-Round Gardening - Bronx, NY
February 18: North Jersey Rain Garden Training for Professional Landscapers - Mountainside, NJ
February 20: Pruning in Winter - Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, MA
February 25: ELA Conference & Eco-Marketplace - Springfield, MA
February 27: Introduction to Winter Tree Identification - Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, MA
MARCH
March 2 - 30: Landscape Design I - Stockbridge, MA
March 3-24 and April 10: Designer Tool Kit III - Project & Presentation - Stockbridge, MA
March 5: Creating Green Roofs: Research and Technology - Bronx, NY
March 6: CT NOFA Winter Conference - Manchester, CT
March 6: Both Sides Now: Gardening in Sun and Shade - Falls Village, CT
March 9: Compost Tea for the Home Gardener - Beverly, MA
March 11: UConn Perennial Plant Conference - Storrs, Connecticut
March 11-12: Natural Lawn & Turf Mgmt Training for Lawn Care Pros &Municipal Officials - Rye, NY
March 13: Nutrient Density Course-Working the Soil - Lincoln, MA
March 16: Ecological Restoration - Bronx, NY
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NOFA Standards Review
The following excerpt on Micronutrient Sources can be found on page 28 of the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care.
Micronutrient Sources
(Manganese, Zinc, Boron, Copper, Iron,
Molybdenum, Chlorine)
Preferred
ˇ Manage soils to release
micronutrients already present
ˇ Compost
Allowed
ˇ Rock powders such as AzomiteŽ
ˇ Kelp
ˇ Fish hydrolyzate, emulsion or
meal (caution, may contain mercury, PCBs or other
contaminants). Be aware when
choosing to use fish products that massive over-fishing is
causing severe ecological damage
in oceans.
Prohibited
ˇ Any synthetic source
ˇ Copper sulfate
ˇ Iron chloride
ˇ Chelated iron
ˇ IroniteŽ
CT NOFA | PO Box 164 | Stevenson | CT | 06491
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