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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Chicago Community Gardeners Association, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Have you considered transitioning your greenspaces away from synthetic pesticides and fertilizers? The non-profit </span><a href="https://midwestgrowsgreen.org/" target="_blank"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Midwest
Grows Green</span></a><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> (MGG) initiative<i>
</i>invites you to attend one or both of our </span><a href="https://midwestgrowsgreen.org/the-forum/"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">October 26<sup>th</sup> half-day workshops</span></a><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">
at </span><a href="https://www.forestpreserveevents.com/thatcher-woods-pavilion" target="_blank" title="https://www.forestpreserveevents.com/thatcher-woods-pavilion"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Thatcher Woods Pavilion</span></a><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> in
River Forest, IL! The workshops will identify, teach and demonstrate organic and sustainable landscaping. Registration is $30 for each at </span><a href="https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5536034" target="_blank"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">bit.ly/SustainableLandscaping22</span></a><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">. <br>
<br>
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">The morning workshop will cover natural lawn care practices, equipment, products and approaches. Keynote speaker
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty-profiles/aj-lindsey/" target="_blank"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Dr. AJ Lindsey</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">,
an assistant professor at the University of Florida, will discuss how to improve turfgrass sustainability with organic soil amendments and fertilizers. Following, </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://midwestgrowsgreen.org/nlc-technical-assistance/" target="_blank"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">MGG’s
Technical Assistance Program</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> team of Ryan Anderson and Vytas Pabedinskas will demonstrate soil and site assessment techniques at River Forest Park District’s pesticide-free
Priory Park. <br>
<br>
</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">In the afternoon, MGG’s Anderson and </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://naturalcommunities.net/" target="_blank" title="https://naturalcommunities.net/"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Natural
Communities LLC.’s</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> Nick Fuller will share pest and weed management practices and strategies that demonstrate proficiency in sustainable and/or organic landscaping. Their presentations
will detail how to reduce or eliminate herbicide use in natural area management by implementing the </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/the-flywheel-weed-management-approach" target="_blank" title="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/the-flywheel-weed-management-approach"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Flywheel
Weed Management Approach</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> and its four spokes of (1)
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/flywheel-spoke-1-investigation-planning-and-prevention"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Investigation, Planning and Prevention</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">,
(2) </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/flywheel-spoke-2-plant-selection"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Plant and Seed Selection</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">,
(3) </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/flywheel-spoke-3-alternative-invasive-weed-management"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Alternative Weed Control Products and Practices</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">
and (4) </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://lawnandland.org/natural-area-management/flywheel-spoke-4-evaluation-improvement"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Evaluation and Improvement</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">.</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Attending either the morning or afternoon workshops will equip you with the necessary tools to pursue and achieve our new
sustainable landscaping standards, </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://greenshieldcertified.org/for-landscapes/" target="_blank" title="https://greenshieldcertified.org/for-landscapes/"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Green
Shield Certified for Landscapes</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">. Learn more about GSC for Landscapes from our overview video at </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-AFfQxXKM" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-AFfQxXKM"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">bit.ly/GSCoverview</span></a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">. </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">I hope to see you on October 26th! Thank you and please let me know of any questions,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Leah McSherry (she/her/hers)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Marketing & Community IPM Specialist
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">IPM Institute of North America, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/B1p4Tv7iyWGJJope6"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0563C1">211 S Paterson St., Suite 380</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0563C1"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/B1p4Tv7iyWGJJope6"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0563C1">Madison, WI 53703</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">P: 608 232-1410 x1017<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">F: 608 232-1440<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://ipminstitute.org/"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0563C1">IpmInstitute.org</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#0563C1"><a href="https://greenshieldcertified.org/"><span style="color:#0563C1">GreenShieldCertified.org</span></a></span><span style="color:#0563C1"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://midwestgrowsgreen.org/"><span style="color:#0563C1">MidwestGrowsGreen.org</span></a><span style="color:#0070C0"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:LMcSherry@ipminstitute.org?subject=Unsubscribe%20885EC407%2DBA02%2D4EEE%2DBC41%2DD92EC4BC9ADB&body=Please%20don%27t%20change%20the%20email%20content%20and%20send%20this%25email%20to%25unsubscribe.%0D%0A%0D%0Aeducation@chicagocommunitygardens.org">Unsubscribe</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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