Even if you don't personally know Dawn Lawless, you've certainly heard her name associated with Maysie's Farm. One of our most active volunteers, Dawn is a member of the Core Group and the Education Advisory Committee, she's a Distribution Manager for Wednesday's pickup, she's very involved with the Children's Workshops and volunteer workdays, and is a consistent contributor to our newsletter.

And she does all this in her spare time! Dawn teaches second grade at Kings Highway Elementary School in Coatesville, where she is also PTO president. She also runs an after-school ecology program called the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) Club. The school garden she started six years ago has received numerous grants and awards, including first place in the all-organic elementary division in the Rodale Institute's PA School Garden Award. The produce harvested from this garden goes to the Chester County Gleaning Project. Dawn actively involves children and parents in growing and expanding this school garden.

Along those same lines, Dawn was instrumental in establishing the Children's Garden at Maysie's Farm this year. She designed the garden and helped turn an overgrown hedgerow into a beautiful and interactive garden made especially for children. Look for it again next year; Dawn is planning on adding more crops conducive to harvesting by little hands.

A 1995 trip to the Amazon rain forest in Peru sparked Dawn's interest in ecology. As a result of this trip she obtained a Master's Degree in Environmental Education (she also has a Master's in Elementary Education) and became involved in other local conservation efforts. For four summers Dawn ran the summer camp for the Brandywine Valley Association. She's been a shareholder at Maysie's Farm for two years; her interest in CSAs stemmed from becoming a vegetarian and being concerned about eating healthy food without chemicals. This past summer she served as a temporary Education Coordinator for Maysie's Farm, where she updated curriculum for the Children's Workshops, helped pursue grants, and organized the natural lawn campaign. Dawn is also a member of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Environmental Education and is helping to organize workshops for their 2002 conference in Lancaster.

Dawn's energy is boundless and her enthusiasm is contagious. Adults as well as children can learn much from her about vegetables, animals, and respect for the earth. Thank you, Dawn, for being such an asset to Maysie's Farm!

Susan Goldsworthy, Community Gardens of Chester County Executive Director, gave a great presentation on Community Gardens on September 27. Susan began her inspirational work in the city of Chester, Delaware County, PA, where she created 175 gardens in 12 years. She provided a variety of programs from simple street planters made of recycled tires to ambitious efforts to transform abandoned lots from junk heaps to productive vegetable gardens. Her efforts fostered much needed connection and pride among the participants and their communities, as well as provided nutritious food to people who would not receive it otherwise. Susan has been implementing similar programs in Chester County for several years, and this year alone was responsible for motivating 575 gardeners and 122 other volunteers to establish and care for 46 community gardens. The programs are funded by grants written by Susan and are supported by the many volunteers who lend a hand. For more information, contact Susan at GardensCC@aol.com.

Brian Jones, president of Natural Gardens & Lawns, Inc., presented a lecture on natural lawn care on October 25. Over the past 20 years, his company has developed natural/organic materials, procedures, and programs for installing and maintaining soil and turf. Brian is directly involved in program implementation and consulting with some 55 athletic fields, parks, townships, zoos, colleges and municipalities, as well as private clients in the Philadelphia area. A school for environmental education — SUNFIRE INSTITUTE, operating out of Bryn Mawr College and The North Carolina Zoological Park — was founded in 1999 by Brian and his partner. Brian discussed the health aspects of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers and stated that the cause and effect relationship between neuromuscular problems, such as Parkinson's disease, and the "toxic cocktail" on suburban lawns is "beyond debate." His approach to decreasing the toxins in our environment is to offer people an acceptable transition to nontoxic lawn care. If people are comfortable with the system they have, using spreaders and sprayers, for example, Brian suggests substituting natural products for the toxic ones in that system. Some of the helpful ideas that Brian presented included:

• using humic acid to stimulate microbial growth in the soil
  
• using natural fertilizers that provide nutrients at a slower rate than chemical fertilizers
  
• planting a variety of grasses appropriate to the area
  
• mowing to a height of 3 or 4 inches to control weeds such as crabgrass
  
• maintaining the proper pH and calcium level to protect plants from insects and disease
  
• leaving grass clippings (well-chopped and spread evenly) on the lawn
  
• aerating soil
  
• watering lawns in the morning instead of at night to prevent disease

For more information, go to www.safeturf.com.