Get Going Take action, make smart choices, and get green May 2006

	Welcome! Welcome to our first issue of Natural News. Each month, we'll bring you the information you need to be a capable citizen of Earth. Get going and make a difference!
	Your Lawn Chances are, if you are reading this, you live within the watershed of Narragansett Bay. Any chemicals and fertilizers you add to your lawn eventually end up in the Bay. They filter down through the topsoil and into the groundwater, then drain into a local creek or river. In the Bay, they destabilize the natural ecosystems and contribute to fish kills and pollution. Concerns also have been raised about the effects of these chemicals when they come into direct contact with children, pets, and wildlife in your yard. So why use these chemicals when you don't have to? They're expensive, and there are plenty of alternatives. The Northeast Organic Farming Association recently published a 47-page guide to natural lawn care that is available free online. Much of it consists of listings from Massachusetts and Connecticut, but it also features lots of useful tips for improving your lawn and landscape. This fact sheet from URI explains how to have a low-maintenance, environmentally friendly lawn. Save The Bay has published a comprehensive home owner's guide to ecologically friendly lawn care. It's aimed at homeowners who live directly on the coast, but it can apply to anyone in the Bay watershed. Many yards also have way too much "hardscaping." Hard surfaces increase runoff and erosion, add stress to storm drain systems, and carry pollutants and dirt into the watershed. It's easy to change that by using gravel instead of concrete or asphalt, use ground covers in low-traffic areas, increase the space between pavers. Your drainage will improve and your landscape will look better. For more ideas, here's a helpful site from California, a story from Hawaii, and here's a picture of a beautiful green driveway built of grass on a gravel bed. You can find listings of organic land-care professionals at Apeiron's Sustainable Rhode Island directory and at the Organic Land Care Committee Web site.
	Your Garden There's more to a yard than grass, and for whatever help you need to plan and care for your garden, the URI Master Gardeners are hard to beat. Their Web site includes everything from a Rhode Island planting calendar for fruits and vegetables, to an "Ask A Master Gardener" email service, to a comprehensive listing of sustainable trees and shrubs, to tips about organic pest control, and much more than we could possibly list. They also offer training, mentoring, and internships, and organize garden tours and plant sales. A fabulous resource for the state. Master Gardener and freelance writer Caroline Brown, of Smithfield, compiles a newsy and lively blog filled with sustainable and organic gardening ideas. Check it out at Earth Friendly Gardening. Another great resource is the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society. Adding native plants to your landscape has lots of advantages. They are generally easy to care for and robust, and you can avoid letting foreign invaders loose into the wild. The Society's Spring Plant Sales are coming up soon, May 21 on Blackstone Boulevard and June 3 at URI. Visit the RIWPS Web site for details. Southside Community Land Trust also has a plant sale this weekend, May 20 and 21, from 10 to 2 at City Farm. Go to their Web site for more info. Lots of interesting workshops are coming up soon, too, to give you plenty of great ideas. You can learn about "Habitat Landscaping" at Blithewold, in Bristol, a technique for allowing more native plants into your yard. The class, sponsored by the New England WIld Flower Society, runs from 10 to 2:30 on Saturday, June 10. To register, go to the NEWFS Web site, and look for course number HOR4320. Southside Community Land Trust holds workshops on Saturday mornings, at City Farm, at Dudley Street in Providence. Topics include garden pests and diseases, herb cultivation, urban composting, and more. Find out more details and get this year's schedule at their Web site. This weekend in North Kingstown, Master Gardener Susan Scotti will give a talk about "Edible Landscapes," at 10 a.m. at Smith's Castle. More info here.
	Lots More To Come We've only scratched the surface, so to speak, on this topic! Over the next few months, Natural News Network will bring you stories about sustainable agriculture, farmer's markets, local food systems, edible landscapes, organic gardening, the slow-food movement, and lots more. Stay tuned! And if you have information or content to contribute, let us know. We're here to Network!

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Photo Credit: Pokeweed photo courtesy of Kettler Ecological Design Studio.

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