Save the Date!
Presentation on Organic Land Management for Public Spaces
Wednesday, September 18, 6:30 - 8:30pm
Talent Community Center, 104 E. Main St., Talent
We are excited to be working with Beyond Toxics to bring a
nationally-recognized speaker to the Rogue Valley next month through our
joint Non Toxic Southern Oregon program!
Public Presentation: September 18
Please join us to hear Chip Osborne, president of Osborne Organics, speak to his experiences helping cities and schools transition away from synthetic pesticides to organic management of public parks, playgrounds and ball fields, and how he will be helping cities in Oregon, including Talent, Eugene and Springfield, implement an organic approach to parks and greenspaces.
Chip has over 25 years experience creating sustainable and healthy landscapes,
and 40 years experience as a horticulturist.
More information here, on Facebook, and see flyer below.
School/Park Training
City, county, and school staff in charge of maintaining parks, playgrounds, schools and sports fields have the opportunity to attend a free, 6-hour training
with Chip earlier the same day. And we are honored to have Jay Feldman, director of Beyond Pesticides, a national organization based in D.C. working to create a world free of toxic pesticides, here for this by-invitation-only training!
We hope you will encourage your elected and school officials to participate.
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Thank You, Ashland Food Co-op!!
Did you know that we are one of the 29 proud recipients of
Ashland Food Co-op's annual Community Grant Program?!
We are thrilled to have the Co-op's support to help us create a
pollinator-friendly landscape at our office!
With their $1,730 in grant funds, we'll be planting native, very
drought-tolerant pollinator plants in our frontscape and creating
a pollinator demonstration and teaching garden in the side yard.
We will also be 'refreshing' our pollinator garden at the Ashland Emergency Food Bank with more compost and wood chips!
Stay tuned for information about work parties this fall.
Let us know if you would like to help!
See photos below.
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iPhoneography: It’s Real Photography!
Saturday, August 24, 2019 1-4 pm
Phoenix Library, 510 W 1st St, Phoenix
Yes, you really can capture beautiful, clear images of
tiny things like bees and flowers!
And you can use your images to make bee-autiful art! All with just your iPhone,
and all without heavy, expensive equipment and desktop software.
Expect to spend most of the 3-hour class doing hands-on practice
under the guidance of the instructor.
For iPhones only. $50.00.
See details and registration link here and flyer below.
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New Facebook Group:
Pollinators and Gardens in the Rogue Valley
Are you amazed and inspired by the beautiful pollinators
in your gardens and landscapes? Show off photos of the plants - and yes weeds!, landscape, trees, shrubs, as well as your native bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, and hummingbirds in our new Facebook group:
Pollinators and Gardens in the Rogue Valley - join today!
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Eugene Joins 94 US Cities to Ban Glyphosate!
Congratulations to the City of Eugene!
City officials have placed a moratorium on the use of glyphosate (Roundup) because of the mounting evidence that this herbicide is a probable human carcinogen and causes harm.
Eugene joins 94 cities and counties in the U.S. that have restricted or banned the use of glyphosate products. Lisa Arkin, executive director of Beyond Toxics, was interviewed on the Jefferson Exchange on Monday - listen to the interview here.
In S. OR, three cities have taken action against Roundup: Ashland (all city parks and greenspaces have been pesticide-free for almost a decade, excepting the golf course, a busy median, and ball-field warning tracks), Talent (is implementing a 3-year transition to an organic-first Integrated Pest Management plan), and Jacksonville (Doc Griffin Park is pesticide-free under current declaration).
Which city is next?
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Non Toxic Jacksonville Park Party a Success
Thank you to the dedicated citizens who rolled up their sleeves, braved the smoke and participated in the first Doc Griffin Park maintenance/weeding party!
In addition to the fun company, the July 26 event served to launch great discussion and ideas for the park's gardens and maintenance.
Thanks to Lauren Kemple for organizing and providing the tasty snacks.
Stay tuned for a September meeting announcement and help us
demonstrate to the City that citizens are committed and willing to help maintain the park, and that pesticide-free zones need to be expanded to
all parks and city property in Jacksonville!
See Facebook post and photo below.
Join us at nontoxicjacksonville@gmail.com
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Hemp Offers Little to Pollinators
Our Rogue Valley landscape is being transformed, with 13,000 acres of hemp
planted throughout Jackson and Josephine Counties.
Hemp is a wind-pollinated crop that is not usually allowed to flower, so it unfortunately offers little to pollinators.
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley's Kristina Lefever posed intriguing questions in
her quarterly The Pollinator Connection column in the Ashland Tidings:
How are these acres supporting pollinating insects?
How much pollinator habitat disappeared by planting this mono-crop?
Why can't growers be encourage to plant pollinator-friendly species, too?
Not all hemp growers are growing fencerow-to-fencerow. Like OM Extracts, which grows hemp sustainably, without plastic (!), and with other crops in a polyculture system that supports a biodiversity of plants, insects and other wildlife.
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Pollinators' Picks
Check out and share this graphically rich, animated clip, Seeds that Poison.
Thanks to Beyond Pesticides for creating this animation, which explains why crops grown with neonicotinoids are toxic from seed to table - for pollinators and people.
Organic Land Management is the way to save pollinators and people!
We've always wanted to learn more about Natives versus Nativars.
The article, written for the landscape industry, is very helpful. The next time you visit a nursery, please ask to see their native / straight species -
your pollinators will appreciate it!
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Sign Up for No-Spray!
Mosquitoes!
We continue to monitor and publicize maps of
Jackson County Vector Control District's mosquito 'fogging'.
The adulticide used most often is deltamithrin, an insecticide toxic to bees and aquatic life, and also a hormone-disrupter for humans.
JCVCD also uses larvicides, which is the better choice, usually Natular.
Information about their products can be found here, as well as information about their free mosquito fish.
Please encourage your friends and neighbors to get on JCVCD's no-spray list! Remember to renew every year!
Roadsides!
If you live on a county road, chances are your road is being sprayed with
glyphosate and other toxic pesticides! Which means these pesticides are contaminating our soil, water, croplands, pollinators and people!
If you are willing and able to manage your road frontage, please ask
Jackson and Josephine Counties to add you to their no-spray list.
See contact info below.
Note! We are looking for volunteers to help us with our Non Toxic Roadsides project, an initiative shared with Beyond Toxics, for pesticide-free roads!
Sign up here!
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House Your Neighborhood Bat!
Bats eat mosquitos and other insects.
One way to encourage bats in your neighborhood is to give them a home!
And we have just the house for them! Made of Oregon pine by local woodworker, Tim Short, each house can hold 100 bats!
The best news is that Tim is donating $5 to Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
from the sale of each house we sell!
$30 payable to Tim Short - cash or check only, please.
Come by our office to pick up one or two, or call to make an appointment.
See picture and flyer below!
(Our office hours can vary, so best to schedule an appointment.)
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Volunteer!
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley is a fun place to volunteer!
Come help us get good things going with pollinators,
plants, gardens, (no) pesticides, and more!
Volunteer to write articles for this newsletter or our blog, table at events,
send letters to the editor about important issues, help with social media, and more.
We invite fun-loving, creative people to join our Events Committee
and to table at community events!
We invite you to bee involved!
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Questions or Comments? Please contact us at
pollinator@pollinatorprojectroguevalley.org
Keep up to date with all things Pollinator on our Facebook page:
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
Thank you, Beyond Toxics, for sharing your office with us!
Office Hours: noon - 5 pm, Tuesday - Friday
and by appointment
312 N. Main St., Suite B, Phoenix
Mail: PO Box 242, Phoenix, OR 97535
458-214-0508
Visit our website.
Click here for archived editions of The Pollinator Times.
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8/14/19
