If you have ever thought of illustrating as a career, here is some interesting insight into how the illustrator for Tag, Toss Run came up with the artwork for our new book.
http://www.drawger.com/atomic/?article_id=12955
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/illustrating-a-book-heres-how-ours-came-together/
By Paul Boardway
As I sat there that day at the Little League park watching my grandson, my mind began to wander back to the days of my youth.
I recalled the days of walking the neighborhood looking for someone to play baseball with me. The task became more difficult when I had to find someone with an actual baseball, or, for that matter, any round object that was wrapped in tape. A bat would be next to find, so as you can imagine, it could take some time. Gloves were optional as most of us couldn’t afford them.
When I reached the age of 12 some of the charities in town would pay for our shirts, so all we needed were gloves, bats and balls. The playing fields in the towns parks were mown so that we could find a ball when it got to the outfield, but there were no umpires, no coaches, no chalked lines and no parents yelling at umpires. We just worked things out on our own. We learned the game on our own and we drove ourselves to improve. We earned our reputations, and we loved the game.
As I became aware of my grandson’s version of game it became apparent that a lot had changed. The 12-year-olds were coming to the park with shoulder bags with their personal bats. They had mouth guards, shin guards, elbow guards, face guards, spikes, batting helmets and a good supply of Gatorade. They had batting cages, four coaches to direct their every move, along with three umpires and more coaches on the baselines.
They had uniforms from head to toe with their names on the back and if you had a favorite player, you could buy a baseball card with their statistics on one side and their picture on the other.
The playing fields were sprayed with God knows what and mown and manicured to a professional level, surrounded by bleacher seats, an electronic scoreboard in center field and even lights for nighttime baseball.
Yet as I looked around, some of the players sitting in the bullpen were texting their friends, caring less about what was going on in the playing field. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them enjoy the game. Why, then, were they out there?
I couldn’t help but wonder, where is that kid roaming the neighborhood looking for someone to play ball with? I know he must be out there. Somewhere.
I am older now and the world is changing. But I wonder if, in our quest to make things “better,” we’ve actually accomplished just the opposite. Maybe we are making it better for some of our children, yet forgetting the boy walking the streets looking for someone to play with?
Maybe, I wonder, if we’ve simply forgotten it’s a game.
The streets of Paul Boardway’s childhood were found in Bangor, Maine, where he later went on to become a three-sport star at John Bapst High School and a starter for the basketball team at Husson College, where he is a member of that school’s Sports Hall of Fame. He now resides in Gloversville, N.Y., and Lake Suzy, Fla.
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/guest-blog-wheres-that-boy-looking-for-a-game/
Of the dozens of games available to the children from the SafeLawns Lawn Games for Life demonstration, the old-fashioned sack races proved most popular.
Organizers estimated more than 10,000 children, many from the inner city of Philadelphia, were able to enjoy lawn games and myriad other environmental educational opportunities at last Friday’s 10th annual EarthFest held at Temple University’s Ambler campus.
SafeLawns was on-hand for the event to set up two dozen game stations that included the activities in our new book, Tag, Toss Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games — everything from old-fashioned wheelbarrow races, tug of war contests and sack relays, to new discoveries such as Molkky, Ladder Golf and human ring toss, which is played with an oversized sponge-filled Frisbee.
“I’m having a blast!” said 9-year-old Jessica Williams.
“What are you playing? Can I play too?” asked 12-year-old Shania Edwards, when she happened upon a kickball game, apparently for the first time in her life.
Although adults made sure the children were safe, the kids kept track of the outs and the score in a robustly revolving kickball game that lasted for several hours on Friday.
“We can’t thank you enough for bringing ‘lawn games’ to our event on Friday,” said Flossie Narducci, education activities manager for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. “Despite the gale force winds, thousands of exuberant kids thoroughly enjoyed frolicking on the field and playing classic outdoor games. In many cases they were introduced to these games for the very first time. Keep up your message and many, many thanks!”
Friday’s event, coordinated in part by the PHS, which presented its annual Junior Flower Show as a part of the day’s activities, was also produced by the Center for Sustainable Communities.
“This is a tremendous achievement, said coordinator Susan Spinella Sacks. “EarthFest has become an essential part of sharing what Temple University Ambler does best — promoting environmental stewardship in our communities.”
In addition to the college and PHS the event was attended by more than 90 other exhibitors eager to educate students — from elementary school age through high school — about their role in environmental preservation. The Academy of Natural Sciences, the National Park Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Montgomery County Beekeepers Association, among many others, lined the walkways and (natural) grassy areas of the campus.
Of the many badges, blue ribbons and other honors, the highest award of the day — the “Commitment to Sustainability” — went to the Wordsworth Interact Club of Wordsworth Fort Washington for their project titled “Plastic Planet Savers.” Throughout the day the 20 members of the Wordsworth Interact Club invited other students to plant and take home seedlings in potting containers made from recycled plastic bottles.
“it’s about getting out there and doing something for others,” said Steve Bass, the Wordsworth Training Specialist. “It’s about learning how you can get involved through your career and your community and really pitch in.”
Hundreds of students await notification of awards during the EarthFest mainstage presentation.
SafeLawns capped its own mainstage message with its presentation titled “Did You Know You Can Eat Your Lawn (if your parents don’t kill it first)!” When I held a fist full of dandelions, chickweed, plantain, clover and sorrel aloft, I asked the children, “What do you see here?”
“Weeds!” they all said.
“Lunch!” I replied.
At first my reluctant volunteer nervously held a piece of chickweed to her mouth. As the chants from the audience grew — “Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it!” — she began chewing on the tender leaves. Moments later she gave the experience a thumbs up.
Just like the day as a whole.
Children loved chasing the oversize sponge-coated Frisbee on the chemical free sports fields at Temple University.
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/more-than-10000-children-enjoy-philly-earthfest/
This dandelion, bigger than my daughter from root to flower at the time, could feed a family of four.
Dandelions are a hot topic right now as April turns to May. The airways are positively alive with advertisements for how to kill the so-called weeds. Neighbors will go to war with other neighbors who dare allow the flowers to grow unfettered in their yards, as if the property values will plummet from the proximity to the scourge.
Capitalizing on all this white-hot hatred of a plant has become a huge industry in North America, up to $40 billion depending on who’s data you count and what categories of fertilizing and killing are included.
Whenever I see my daughter, Aimee, outside, however, I’m reminded that hating dandelions is not a birthright. Little boys and girls universally enter the world in love with dandelions . . . and clover and Johnny jump-ups and most any other flowers for that matter. Children even love the dandelion seed heads that adults seem to loathe most of all. Kids pluck them and blow them and delight as the seeds dance on the breeze until coming to rest at their anointed spot on the lawn.
Aimee, especially, seems drawn to flowers. The cross-pollination of two professional gardeners, Aimee can’t quite understand why everyone’s yard in the neighborhood is not as bountiful as ours when it comes to flowers Mother Nature plants naturally.
Or, perhaps, Aimee is the prodigy of her great grandmother, who — at 89 years and one day apart from my daughter in age — used to spend her days going door to door on Reeves Road in Bradford, Maine, asking her neighbors if she good dig their dandelions. Gram called her haul a good “mess of greens” and would gleefully force feed them to me while telling me they were “good for what ails” me.
I have asked people the rhetorical question at every stop on my road for the past 17 years or so: “How did we get from the 1960s, when we considered dandelions good food, to now, when people spend hard-earned money to purge their patch of paradise of any non-grass plants?”
The answer, of course, is marketing, a manufactured definition of landscape beauty that’s not unlike the sculpted, Photoshopped and cropped manipulation of the photos on celebrity magazines. Dandelions are lawn pimples to be popped, they’re wrinkles to be injected with Botox.
In 50 years we’ve gone from a waste-not-want-not culture where the lawn was a free salad bar, to a waste-all-want-all society where we’re willing to apply toxic substances to our landscapes for the sake of someone’s perception of attractive.
It would be easy to get cynical, except that I have Aimee to remind me that this, too, shall pass.
As long as little girls love dandelions — and they always will — we will have a chance to change the world.
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/as-long-as-little-girls-love-dandelions/
These are four of the 14 stops we made during April to promote natural lawn care and healthy outdoor play.
The SafeLawns spring 2012 tour makes a significant stop today, presenting to the Boys Girls Clubs of America national convention at the Grand Hyatt Convention Center in San Diego, Ca.
Co-authors Victoria Rowell and Paul Tukey will be on hand to discuss their new book, Tag, Toss Run, as well as the previous titles The Women Who Raise Me (Rowell) about foster care and the Organic Lawn Care Manual (Tukey) about reducing toxins in the landscape environment.
The Boys Girls Clubs audience, which will be comprised of directors and staff from across North America, represents a unique opportunity to send the message of environmental stewardship for the sake of children back to communities nationwide. The clubs are focal points for children’s issues.
“This is an exciting opportunity,” said Tukey, who will be visiting his 14th state in the past 30 days. “I grew up in Maine and visited the Boys Club there almost every day. It played a significant part in my childhood and helped me develop a lot of skill sets that I’ve carried with me through many, many years.”
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/boys-girls-clubs-feature-safelawns/
This dandelion, bigger than my daughter from root to flower at the time, could feed a family of four.
Dandelions are a hot topic right now as April turns to May. The airways are positively alive with advertisements for how to kill the so-called weeds. Neighbors will go to war with other neighbors who dare allow the flowers to grow unfettered in their yards, as if the property values will plummet from the proximity to the scourge.
Capitalizing on all this white-hot hatred of a plant has become a huge industry in North America, up to $40 billion depending on who’s data you count and what categories of fertilizing and killing are included.
Whenever I see my daughter, Aimee, outside, however, I’m reminded that hating dandelions is not a birthright. Little boys and girls universally enter the world in love with dandelions . . . and clover and Johnny jump-ups and most any other flowers for that matter. Children even love the dandelion seed heads that adults seem to loathe most of all. Kids pluck them and blow them and delight as the seeds dance on the breeze until coming to rest at their anointed spot on the lawn.
Aimee, especially, seems drawn to flowers. The cross-pollination of two professional gardeners, Aimee can’t quite understand why everyone’s yard in the neighborhood is not as bountiful as ours when it comes to flowers Mother Nature plants naturally.
Or, perhaps, Aimee is the prodigy of her great grandmother, who — at 89 years and one day apart from my daughter in age — used to spend her days going door to door on Reeves Road in Bradford, Maine, asking her neighbors if she good dig their dandelions. Gram called her haul a good “mess of greens” and would gleefully force feed them to me while telling me they were “good for what ails” me.
I have asked people the rhetorical question at every stop on my road for the past 17 years or so: “How did we get from the 1960s, when we considered dandelions good food, to now, when people spend hard-earned money to purge their patch of paradise of any non-grass plants?”
The answer, of course, is marketing, a manufactured definition of landscape beauty that’s not unlike the sculpted, Photoshopped and cropped manipulation of the photos on celebrity magazines. Dandelions are lawn pimples to be popped, they’re wrinkles to be injected with Botox.
In 50 years we’ve gone from a waste-not-want-not culture where the lawn was a free salad bar, to a waste-all-want-all society where we’re willing to apply toxic substances to our landscapes for the sake of someone’s perception of attractive.
It would be easy to get cynical, except that I have Aimee to remind me that this, too, shall pass.
As long as little girls love dandelions — and they always will — we will have a chance to change the world.
Here is an update of one of most popular posts . . . a thorough review of all the steps necessary to maintain a beautiful lawn naturally, including product referrals where applicable:
http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/organic-lawn-care-step-by-step-if-you-must/
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/organic-lawn-care-step-by-step/
As a part of the kickoff for our book, Tag, Toss Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games, our publisher, Storey, has arranged for a 24-city radio tour . . . and Victoria Rowell and I don’t even have to leave the comfort of our own homes.
We’ll be talking about getting off the couch and getting back outside, as well as how to maintain landscapes naturally without toxic substances. So if you’re within earshot, listen in. Or if you see a station on the list, below, and your friend or family member lives in that area send this link.
In addition to the stations listed, we’ll also be on:
12:45-1:00 p.m., Hartford, Ct., WDRC-FM/WWCO/WSNG/WMMU-AM; 1:00-1:10 p.m., New York, WCBS-AM; 1:25-1:35 p.m., Sacramento, KAHI-AM; 2:20-2:30 p.m., Philly, WWJF-AM;
2:30-2:40 p.m., Charlotte, WGIV-FM; 2:45-3:00 p.m., Minneapolis, KTOE-AM.
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/get-out-play-america-the-radio-tour-is-tomorrow/
MAY DAY at PIPER SHORES
The windows, we kept shut last night,
to keep the toxic fumes outdoors.
By morning, it is raining,
as I set about some chores:
Feed the birds — but they’re not here…
Cut some herbs — no, can’t eat them…
OK, walk to the beach to start the day,
but signs on the grass say to stay away…
So I head to the path, on down the lane,
and in front of me lies the following scene:
Yellow pellets litter the pavement.
Earthworms that crawled there are curled up dead.
Puddles dissolving the chemical toxin
soak in my shoes and go to my head.
So it’s back to the cottage we call home,
through the stench of pesticide thick in the air…
I feel like a mouse being run through a test
to see how much will lay me to rest.
— Suzan Bryher Dill
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/may-day-a-poem/
Glenstone’s lawn was a healthy green under magnificent blue skies on Tuesday. If you look closely you’ll see livestock grazing near the property’s massive pond.
The natural lawn care movement in the United States will get a major boost in August when Growing A Greener World, hosted by Joe Lamp’l, showcases the organic lawn renovation at Glenstone, the modern art museum in Potomac, Md. The episode, estimated to be watched by nearly a million people nationwide in its first run, is scheduled to be aired in late August.
SafeLawns was on-hand, both to observe and to participate in the segment. We have been the lead consultants on the project since its inception in July of 2010 and the Growing a Greener World team is the first film crew to be allowed on the 160-acre Glenstone property, which has not had any synthetic chemicals used on its grounds since our arrival.
Outdoor taping sessions at the University of Maryland turf research farm were truncated due to blustery winds and rain. At first glance, however, many of the plots fertilized with compost were holding their own against plots coated with a synthetic chemical fertilizer.
From atop a ladder at the University of Maryland research farm only subtle differences could be observed in the 10-by-10-foot plots.
The two-day shooting session began in dreary, cold and wet conditions on Monday that ultimately led the crew indoors to the College Park laboratory of Dr. Mark Carroll and Dr. Thomas Turner, the two University of Maryland scientists who are working on an organic lawn research project with SafeLawns and Glenstone. The following day in Potomac, however, temperatures were in the 60s under brilliant blue skies.
“When you look at this place, the only thing you can say is ‘Wow,’” said Lamp’l, who is in his third season with this show.
Dr. Mark Carroll of the University of Maryland chats with Lamp’l on camera during Monday’s indoor taping session.
Aided by much-needed two-day rain that helped Maryland out of a significant drought situation, the lawns at Glenstone were radiantly green on Tuesday.
“Conventional wisdom and even university research would suggest that you can’t do what we’re doing here — which is growing green grass organically and saving money at the same time,” I told Joe on camera. “I think this project is going to go a long way toward changing people’s perceptions of what an organic lawn can look like.”
Host Joe Lamp’l enjoyed the sunny day that followed a wet, raw Monday of shooting.
Joe was also afforded the opportunity to chat with Glenstone’s founders, Mitchell and Emily Rales, who reside in a home opposite from the museum. In a wide-ranging interview, the founders reiterated a commitment to the organic approach that they feel is better for their family, their staff and visitors, as well as their bottom line.
“The initial reaction here among our grounds crew was, ‘No, this can’t be done; it will be a disaster,’” said Mitchell Rales. “But one thing I’ve learned about leadership from my business career is that it has to come from the top. If you don’t drive it from the top it can’t happen. So we said, ‘No problem. Let’s bring in an advisor.” Because if we don’t stop and force ourselves to learn how to do this, then it will never happen . . . Lo and behold, going cold turkey, with a little good advice, it wasn’t such a hard thing.”
Videographer Carl Pennington tracks Joe Lamp’l's interview with Mitchell and Emily Rales.
Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/pbs-show-to-showcase-glenstones-organic-lawn/
SECT Landscaping
Pressure Washing
Seasonal Clean Up
Junk Removal
Lawn Care 
Mulch Install 
Roof/Gutter Cleaning
