The Nature Lycuem- Remembering a Man of Vision Who Helped Others See!
Entering the Road of No Return
Once a person experienced the magic of the Nature Lyceum, their life was forever changed. There are really no words that can aptly describe how one is impacted. It had to be experienced to be understood.
Those who have been fortunate enough to pass through these gates of learning, moved forward into their communities continuing the mission of the Green Guerilla's, spreading the word about organics.
Jeff Frank
Was the tireless, passionate and ever knowledgeable director of the Nature Lyceum. on Long Island in New York.
Thanks to Jeff's insight and vision, the Nature Lyceum opened the eyes of thousands to the necessary changes we need to make in growing our food, in being stewards of the environment and in taking responsibilityfor the condition of our personal health
Was the tireless, passionate and ever knowledgeable director of the Nature Lyceum. on Long Island in New York.
Thanks to Jeff's insight and vision, the Nature Lyceum opened the eyes of thousands to the necessary changes we need to make in growing our food, in being stewards of the environment and in taking responsibilityfor the condition of our personal health
Graduate Class 2009
Tuesday evening the festivities bagan as the Green Guerrillas's started to assemble. greeted by Lyceum Director Jeff Frank
signature YUA-TAH-HEY! (Navajo greeting)
Some of the photos in the slide show were taken from the opening evening event Elemental Jamboree 2009.
There is no way a less than amateur photographer like me can even begin to
... Capture the Breathtaking Beauty,
... Or the Feel of the Vibrational Frequency
... Of This Sacred Space Through Photos
... This Oasis of Beauty or More Aptly This Garden of Eden Shows
... How Someone Can Take a Small Parcel of Land
... Then Transform It Through Love
... By Allowing Mother Nature to
... Maintain Her Role as Landscape Architect
...Teaching Humans How to Appreciate the Gifts
... She Bestows Upon Us
...Working Co-Creatively with Mother Nature,
... Suzanne Ruggles , the Barefoot Gardener
... Has Connected So Deeply.
...Through Her Native Habitat Gardening
... One Cannot Miss Sensing on
...All Levels the Spirituality Embedded Throughout This Land
Opening Act of the Elemental Jamboree was Dr. Jim Conroy and Basia Alexander presenting "Tree Whispering"
Dr. Jim Conroy and Basia Alexander, set off our 2 1/2 day journey, in the beautiful outdoor living room of Mother Nature. Surrounded by the colorful sights and sounds of nature, we first listened to an informational talk on the consciousness of plants, then we engaged in a hands-on session, as we were lead through a guided visualization followed by a walk through
the yard to personally connect with a tree.
Following an Organic BBQ, the group listened to a round table discussion of " Anastasia" This was The Ringing Cedars Series, published by Ringing Cedars Press, a nine-book collection by Siberian trader Vladimir Megré that chronicles the life of Anastasia, a mysteriously powerful woman who has inspired millions of readers worldwide to cast away their old lifestyles in pursuit of a purer existence.
What an amazing evening followed by an unforgetable two days of inspiration!
signature YUA-TAH-HEY! (Navajo greeting)
Some of the photos in the slide show were taken from the opening evening event Elemental Jamboree 2009.
There is no way a less than amateur photographer like me can even begin to
... Capture the Breathtaking Beauty,
... Or the Feel of the Vibrational Frequency
... Of This Sacred Space Through Photos
... This Oasis of Beauty or More Aptly This Garden of Eden Shows
... How Someone Can Take a Small Parcel of Land
... Then Transform It Through Love
... By Allowing Mother Nature to
... Maintain Her Role as Landscape Architect
...Teaching Humans How to Appreciate the Gifts
... She Bestows Upon Us
...Working Co-Creatively with Mother Nature,
... Suzanne Ruggles , the Barefoot Gardener
... Has Connected So Deeply.
...Through Her Native Habitat Gardening
... One Cannot Miss Sensing on
...All Levels the Spirituality Embedded Throughout This Land
Opening Act of the Elemental Jamboree was Dr. Jim Conroy and Basia Alexander presenting "Tree Whispering"
Dr. Jim Conroy and Basia Alexander, set off our 2 1/2 day journey, in the beautiful outdoor living room of Mother Nature. Surrounded by the colorful sights and sounds of nature, we first listened to an informational talk on the consciousness of plants, then we engaged in a hands-on session, as we were lead through a guided visualization followed by a walk through
the yard to personally connect with a tree.
Following an Organic BBQ, the group listened to a round table discussion of " Anastasia" This was The Ringing Cedars Series, published by Ringing Cedars Press, a nine-book collection by Siberian trader Vladimir Megré that chronicles the life of Anastasia, a mysteriously powerful woman who has inspired millions of readers worldwide to cast away their old lifestyles in pursuit of a purer existence.
What an amazing evening followed by an unforgetable two days of inspiration!
2008 Class
Class 2009
JJust a Few Testimonials.....
"I have always used Organics. When I was young I was a fisherman and worked part time for a tree
service and never used pesticides because of my love for the water. Now I have my own landscape
tree Service Company and only use an organic approach. I use what I learned taking the courses at
The Nature Lyceum.
I am using a new mix of peat moss, earthworm castings, compost and mini pine bark mulch to
provide nutrients and to aerate also use compost teas as a follient enhancer. The trees are greener,
healthier and more alive. I will always use Organics –it’s the better way to go."-
Alfred P. Greenwald II Green Forest Management
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"I am the daughter of a golf course superintendent. After being educated at The Nature Lyceum I have
been using Organics with outstanding results. I witness the transformation of my gardens as the soil
goes from lifeless to growth and energy. Something as simple as leaves left on the ground can begin
a chain reaction of countless life. I have experienced 3 years of phenomenal results and success. I
am grateful to Jeff Frank and the Nature Lyceum for the constant support I continue to receive."
Florence Rewenski - Estate Gardener
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" I have been using an Organic approach for the past 10 years. I have reduced my pesticide use
more than 90% and fertilizers by 1/3. I use compost and compost teas to fight off diseases injected
through the irrigation system. I spray the problem areas directly. I use natural fertilizers in all areas.
The results have been great-it works! My membership feels good about not playing in a chemical
environment and so do I.
The small bird population is thriving at my course. We are also very concerned about the water
under Long Island as we are situated on a penninsula and have public drinking wells on the
property. So you can see how important it is to move in the Organic direction. Jeff Frank and The
Nature Lyceum is a guiding light for making a difference. It just makes sense."
Phil Anderson - Golf Course Superintendent (18 yrs)
The Village Club of Sands Point, New York
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In his new book, “Greening America to Save the World” Author and Landscape Architect, Mark
Pavletich, says in the first chapter, “An Organic Journey”. “For two decades, all my energies were
focused on building a thriving Landscape business. But everything changed in 2002. Renowned
Landscape Architect Carter van Dyke, with whom I had worked on several projects, recommended
that I attend a seminar at The Nature Lyceum, a school for Organic Horticulture on Long Island,
NY. Experts from our industry spoke on how toxic landscape chemicals and fertilizers were killing
landscapes (not nourishing them). Then Organic experts lectured on how maintaining landscapes
could be done with out harming the plants. You can imagine the shock in the classroom, which was
full of landscape architects and landscape company owners. All of us came away with from the
seminar feeling that we had been brainwashed by the chemical industry. My perspective on
horticulture and my career changed over night. I felt reborn as a green horticulturist and
businessman.
Mark Pavletich - Landscape Horticulturist and Businessman
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After attending the Nature Lyceum, I went home to West Virginia for the holidays and gave away
sample copies of Acres magazine along with numerous vegetable seeds. It was a huge hit.
Everyone was interested in what I learned and were excited to see me so happy. My grandfather
who is a self-proclaimed expert on everything actually listened to everything I wanted to say and to
my enormous surprise he started pulling out old natural healing books that were my great
grandma's. She had written down her own natural remedies inside the front cover decades ago.
Absolutely priceless to me!!
Recently, I finished Harvey Lisle's The Enlivened Rock Dust Powders- parts of this book blew my
mind. Currently I'm reading Black Elk Speaks. I can't put it down. I have sent out 8 packets to my
closest friends who are superintendents. I've know these guys for years so I want to get them to the
class. I wrote a passionate letter accompanied by a copy of The Lyceum homepage, the organics
course description, and a copy of The Big Lie. I am so excited to hear from them. I just can't wait
to hear their reactions.
Attending the Nature Lyceum was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has completely
changed my life. As an assistant golf course superintendent I feel finding alternatives to
chemicals is the most important issue in the golf industry today. The passion by which courses are
taught at the Lyceum is the driving force behind a common sense organic approach to agriculture
as well as life in general.
I attended the class to learn more about organics and I walked away with an enlightened
perspective on life itself. I can not continue to contribute to the problems of this world by
maintaining business as usual at work, or as we like to say in the turf industry "best practices",
without trying alternatives The more I research these alternatives the stronger and more confident I
feel. I know in my heart that I'm on the right path. I saved a tree a week ago that the club wanted to
cut down behind a green. A green which has no air or light issues. The tree actually blocks the
view of the pump station as one walks off the green. That was an easy victory. Last week a worker
applied a granular copper fungicide to a newly seeded extension of a fairway for snow mold
control. The next morning, our four interns wanted to go out there and sod the edges of that same
fairway. If I hadn't been there to assert some common sense those guys would have ended up with
chemical all over them. Sometimes we just need to slow down and think.
Jason Hart- Assistant Superintendent
Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley N.J