Showing posts with label Accreditation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accreditation. Show all posts

Friday, November 16, 2012

A Successful Organic Land Care Business Workshop

On Friday, November 9, 2012, the NOFA Organic Land Care Program hosted its fourth advanced workshop, titled Business Essentials: Pricing and Marketing your Landscaping Services for Success. The half-day workshop was held at the Connecticut Forest and Park Association in Rockfall, CT. Frank Crandall of Frank Crandall Horticultural Solutions in Wakefield, Rhode Island began the first presentation about pricing and estimating organic versus conventional lawn care services.

Frank started out by reviewing the fundamentals of profitable estimates, and then went on to compare the pricing of organic, transitional, and conventional lawn care programs over a three year period. Frank was able to show from the three year comparison that:
a transition program can convert to fully organic after the second year
an organic program can approach traditional lawn care in cost in the third year and
all phases of the organic plan can be profitable with comprehensive estimating

One of the biggest concerns many land care professionals and clients have about organic land care is the idea that it more costly and less profitable than traditional land care. Frank's presentation argued that this isn't always the case, as long as land care professionals provide accurate estimating, and make sure to sell organic as a comprehensive program rather than the organic version of a 4-step program. Frank emphasized discussing expectations with clients before signing an agreement, to ensure that clients understand the differences in methodology between organic and conventional management. He also noted that it's easier to finalize contracts with clients that request organic services rather than trying to convert traditional customers. More>

If you are interested in organic landscaping, we are excited to tell you about our other upcoming events this winter, including our Accreditation Courses, Annual Gathering, and Organic Lawn Care Certificate CoursesCheck out our website to learn more.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Our New Guide to Organic Land Care is in!

This is a view of the lower level of our office building with our new shipment of 2012-2013 Guides to Organic Land Care.  Hopefully it won't get too cold for a while because it looks like we won't be using that stove for a few months.

As you know, last month we received a shipment for the first of our two printed Guides, the 2012-2013 Farm and Food Guide, which provides information by county of our member farms, farmers markets, csa programs, supporting businesses, community farms, and community gardens.  Yesterday, our second Guide developed by the NOFA Organic Land Care Program was completed and brought back to the office!  The 2012-2013 Guide to Organic Land Care provides course information, local pesticide info, and AOLCP listings by state and county, as well as a large number of feature articles and book excerpts about pest control, compost, rain gardens, and much more. The Guide is a great resource to help you find Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals in your area who can help you maintain your property without the use of harmful chemicals.  If you are an Accredited Professional, this is a great way to advertise yourself as part of a large and influential community of sustainable landscapers while also providing helpful tips to homeowners and groundskeepers on how to organically maintain their land.

You can order a copy of the Guide to Organic Land Care for just $2 to cover the cost of shipping, and if you visit us at one of our outreach events, you can pick up a copy for free!  To order larger quantities of the Guide for distribution, contact the CT NOFA office at 203-888-5146 or e-mail ctnofa@ctnofa.org.  A PDF of the Guide will also be available online shortly.  

Have a lovely Thursday,
Melissa

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Come Visit us at our Upcoming Events!

This year marks our 30th anniversary, so to make this year our best one yet we are hosting or tabling at a vast array of events over the next several months.  This means you will have even more opportunities to come visit us and learn more about organic agriculture, land care, and sustainable living.  Check out the following list of events for farmers, land care professionals, and consumers, and click on many of the titles to learn more information.

If you are thinking about becoming an organic farmer, register today for this conference:

2012 Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference
Saturday, January 28
CT Forest and Park Association
Rockfall, CT

If you are an Accredited Professional, come check out these conferences, courses and workshops:

NY Turf and Landscape Conference 

January 11, 2012
White Plains, NY

RI Nursery and Landscape Annual Winter Meeting 
January 24-25, 2012
Warwick, RI

CT Groundskeepers Association 2012 Turf Conference
 
January 24, 2012
Cromwell, CT

New England Grows
 
February 1-3, 2012
Boston, MA

11th Annual Accreditation Course in Organic Land Care
New Haven, CT
February 15-17, and 21-22, 2012
(Snow Date: February 23, 2012)

Charlestown, RI
February 27-29, March 1-2, 2012
(Snow Date; March 5)
 
Ecological Landscaping Association - 18th Annual Conference and Marketplace
March 7-8, 2012
Springfield, MA

Organic Apple Growing OLC Advanced Workshop with Michael Phillips
March 9, 2012
Location and time TBA

And if you're a farmer, Accredited professional, or consumer, these events are open to all:

30th Annual CT NOFA Winter Conference
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Manchester Community College
Manchester, CT

How to Plan For a Bountiful Vegetable Garden 
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Common Ground High School
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Starting Seedlings Workshop 
March 10, 2012
Common Ground High School
10:00-12:00pm

Soils and Compost Workshop 
March 11, 2012
Common Ground High School
10:00-1:00pm

Organic Gardening Workshop 
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Common Ground High School
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Looking forward to seeing you there!
-Melissa

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A Decade in Organic Land Care

Our certificate from IFOAM welcoming the NOFA
Standards in Organic Land Care to the IFOAM
Family of Standards
The NOFA Organic Land Care Program, a regional project out of the Connecticut NOFA office, has been accrediting professionals for 10 years now.  And we want to expand the organic land care movement to be bigger than ever in 2012.  Organic should be the standard in landscaping. 
This year our standards were accepted to the International Family of Standards established by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
We received news that the 2012 Beyond Pesticides Forum will be held in New Haven, Connecticut on March 30-31
Our Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals (AOLCPs) : Have taken the NOFA OLC 5-day Accreditation Course in organic landscaping, passed the Accreditation Exam, pledged to provide organic land care according to the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care, maintained continuing education by attending a minimum of 4 credit-hours of organic landscaping education annually and must pay an annual fee ($100) to support the work of the OLC program
If you are a homeowner, check out our homeowner's guide and brochure about going organic at home.
If you have a landscaper, ask them if they're accredited - there needs to be a demand for organic!
Ask your town government or schools if any of their groundskeepers are accredited - it's state law that no pesticides can be used on k-8 schools, and towns are also implementing these bans on town lands.  
If you're a land care professional, think about accreditation 
Frank Crandall
The course is coming up:
Massachusetts
January 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and a snowdate of Jan. 15th
Worcester State University
486 Chandler St.
Worcester, MA  01602

Connecticut
February 15, 16, 17 and 21, 22, and a snowdate of Feb. 23rd
CT Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington St.

New Haven, CT  06511
Camilla Worden

Rhode Island

February 27, 28, 29, March 1, 2 and snowdate of March 5
Kettle Pond Visitor Center
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Charlestown, RI 02813

Read about how a couple of our AOLCPs and committee-members, Camilla Worden of Brookfield, CT and Frank Crandall are making their accreditation work for them.  While you are helping the environment and offering customer safer land management practices, you can also really help your business.



Monday, December 12, 2011

Events Galore!

This winter we have a flurry of events that promise to be both exciting and educational.  Read on to learn more:  

Get ready for our upcoming NOFA chapter Winter Conferences!  Six NOFA chapters are holding conferences between January and March with great speakers, workshops, and events for all.  Visit the chapter websites to learn more and to register.  If you've been farming for less than 10 years, you may also qualify for a scholarship - your local NOFA chapter can let you know if you do.

If you missed our Organic Land Care Annual Gathering last Tuesday, you can check out photos from the event on our Flickr page here

Registration is continuing for our NOFA chapter OLC Accreditation Courses!  If you'd like to take the course, or just want to learn more, check it out here.

Thanks!
-Melissa

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The National Organic Land Care Movement!


Oregon Tilth just announced the Oregon Tilth Accredited Organic Land Care (OLC) program.  Oregon Tilth used the Standards for Organic Land Care: Practices for Design and maintenance of Ecological Landscapes created by NOFA in 2000-2001 as the model for their own program.  The goal of Organic Land Care programs is to replace artificial pesticides and fertilizers used in land care with natural or biological alternatives.  By eliminating these harmful practices, land care professionals or land owners can improve the health of the soil, conserve water, and work in conjunction with biological processes instead of against them.  These land care standards and practices are applicable in other parts of the country and it is exciting that the organic land care movement has made the transition from a regional movement to a national one.