NOFA STANDARDS FOR ORGANIC LAND CARE

The Mission of the NOFA Organic Land Care Program is to extend the vision and principles of organic agriculture to the care of the landscapes that surround us in our daily lives.

Basic Principles of Organic Land Care

1 – Steward the combined health of soil, plant, animal, human, and planet.

2 – Emulate living ecological systems and cycles and help sustain them.

3 – Build equity, respect, justice, and stewardship of the shared world.

4 – Act in a precautionary and responsible manner.

The NOFA OLC program began in 1999 with the writing of the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care by an ad hoc volunteer committee of scientists, landscapers and activists from the Massachusetts and Connecticut chapters of NOFA. The program now resides in CT NOFA in Derby, CT. Find out more about this NOFA Program.

The Organic Land Care Committee published written standards in 2001 to present their vision of how organic agricultural principles can be applied to the landscaping profession. Through an extensive educational and accreditation program based on the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care, the goal is to make available to the public organic landscaping services that will meet or exceed these standards. We also hope to educate the public and younger generations about the importance of using standards-based organic landscaping services and practices, because – unlike agriculture – in landscaping there is currently no regulation on using the word “organic.”

First, Do No Harm

Every land use decision we make will have a positive or negative effect on the land in our care. Strive to understand and preserve existing elements that benefit the whole ecosystem––indigenous plants and soils, wildlife corridors and habitat, riparian buffers and watershed drainage, mature trees and shrubs. Minimize use of inputs that impact existing local ecosystems, such as fertilizer and water, and avoid adding any toxic materials to the land in your care

Definition of Organic Land Care

Organic Land Care is a sustainable ecological landscaping system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-site inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony and
beauty in urban and suburban landscapes and gardens. “Organic” means landscaping with no synthetic pesticides of any kind (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.) and with no synthetic fertilizers or soil amendments.

Principle of Health –  Organic land care should sustain and enhance the health of soil, water, air, plant, animal, human, and planet as one and indivisible.

Principle of Ecology – Organic land care should be based on ecological systems and cycles and should work with them, emulate them, and help sustain them.

The requirements, extensive learning curve, and experience to become certified as an accredited organic land care professional has rewarded me many times over with the opportunities to make a difference and put this “earth” of ours back the way it should be. One shovel at a time.

We have provided a link if you would like to learn more about  to the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care. Approximately 500 professionals from 18 states are accredited by NOFA.

Knowledge is the Key

So much unnecessary chemical additives, fertilizers and pollutants are added to our landscaped homes, lawns and public spaces each year because of ignorance and following ill-advised advice in television commercials promoting this and that. We look at the plant, google a search, go to a box store and buy a pesticide and commence to spray. But we aren’t addressing the issue at all. We’re killing the Earth while we are leaning over the fence talking to the neighbor saying “the book says do this”. That is not the solution at all.

Mother Nature says “do this”

Consider the entire environment, from the soil basics, to the the plant requirements, to the plant location, to the neighboring plants, to the use and maintenance of the area and on and on. In other words or in laymen’s terms – Consider the Eco-System as a whole.

You need to provide a suitable eco-system within which flora and fauna can thrive, take deep root, propagate and provide an environment that wildlife can flourish in. In nature everything is tied together in a sense, with each contributing something from the birds, to the earthworms, to the micro-organisms within the soil. Native plants utilized within sustainable landscaping get along fine with each other, non natives don’t. We also waste so much water, spend unnecessary money on chemicals and fertilizers, all to maintain a lush green lawn when you can do it cheaper if you initiate a sustainable organic turf program, that will provide a return-on-investment (ROI) in a few short years and provide lasting benefits for years to come.

Consider Organics and when you do – Consider Us

Yua Tah Hey

At Lincoln Landscaping cultivating the environment is our life and livelihood. It is our number one goal to help our clients create and maintain beautiful landscapes and lawns while reducing the impact on the environment. Whether you are interested in organic turf management, a pollinator landscape garden design and build, or have some other landscaping or property management project; we can create for you an environmentally friendly, organic and beautiful eco-system within your property.