Hi, I came across your fairly old post while searching similar info for myself on becoming an MG. I am scheduled to begin MG training in Jan 2011. Like you, I also have a four year degree in psychology, but did not complete advanced training in it for a variety of reasons. I am looking into horticultural therapy (an area you might want to google and explore if you are not familiar with this field). I am also interested in historical horticulture, such as working on gardens for historical sites. While I certainly don't expect to a huge immediate career change for myself after earning this credential, I do plan to use this certification as a stepping stone for personal exploration, increased knowledge, and who knows, maybe a career change down the road. Because the MG programs are volunteer-oriented, your biggest benefit will be your increased knowledge of something you love, and networking, both of which could eventually land you a job or perhaps a business of your own in some aspect of horticulture that appeals to you. It's not a huge time commitment, nor a lot of money as compared to graduate school, so if you are looking to do something different, in a field that interests you, just go for it, and build upon it as you can or as you see fit down the road. I would love to hear back if you did decide to complete the program and where you are at with it in your life.

Hello Kime. First of all, welcome to the Lawncare forum. Although I rarely post here anymore, your enthusiasm and desire for a nice eco-friendly lawn cries out for answers to your thoughtful questions. It appears that you have done some research, gained knowledge and experience, and probably have a pretty descent lawn right now. I will proceed from that assumption giving opinion based on my experience with a similar lawn in similar soil and climate. No doubt, you will receive conflicting opinions and will have to decide for yourself what may work best for you. To begin with, your plan for 2009 is good but needs a little tweaking to optimize it for the first year. Lets start from todays date. You will want to start preparing you lawn for Winter dormancy. On your lawn spread 50 # of soybean meal. Start with your spreader ¾ wide open. You may have to open it up all the way. If you spell any, then clean it up. You donÂt want any piles of it on your lawn as it may leave a dead spot. This is a light application but you should see results in 3 or 4 weeks as the soil temperatures are good for microbial decomposition of grains. Repeat this process again October 15th. Always leave lawn clippings on your lawn with your side discharge mower. Mow all your Autumn leaves into your lawn even if you have to rake them into rows in remote areas of you lawn. A good soil requires lots of organic material. Do not throw your leaves away. Thanksgiving  forget alfalfa meal or pellets, itÂs too cold for quick breakdown of organic material. Instead use urea (the only deviation from a purely organic fertilizer program) 45-0-0 at the rate of 2 # per 1000 sq ft. This will encourage root growth and nutrient storage and provide a great green-up and initial Spring feeding without excessive top growth. Urea, as you probably know naturally occurs in urine and nothing could be more "natural" than that. That 8 or 10 lbs of urea could be diluted with 20 lbs of SBM as a filler to enable an even distribution. At this point, your lawncare is done for the year. April 1  Corn meal or cracked corn  low in protein (nitrogen) but encourages beneficial fungus to aid in lawn disease. CGM is good, but do not expect any pre-emergent herbicide qualities from one dose as it takes time and more quantity to build up in your soil to be effective as a pre-M. May 15  Soy bean meal- the first real feeding of the season, takes 3 to 4 weeks to become effective. July 1 Alfalfa pellets  low nitrogen but high in micronutrients. August 1  corn meal. September 1  SBM - October 15 SBM and youÂre done for the year. This post is getting long so IÂll move it along and just say that compost is really really good but optional. You can spread your grains everywhere including gardens, beds and shrubs. Grub control? You probably donÂt need it unless you have a severe infestation. A healthy lawn can support a large and diverse insect population which will become balanced between predators and prey. Up to 10 grubs per sq. ft. is acceptable. Bill Hill

I've used the text and spreadsheet applications and they work pretty darn well given the price. The only thing you need to remember is that Open Office is not 100% compatible with Microsoft Office. If you are in a business environment were the office uses Office, then you need Office.

The Egg timer feature is a for manually started runs. Your scheduled programs will normally run your pool from 8-5, lights from 7-10, etc, etc. If you at any time press a button to turn on a feature, it will by default run for 12 hours. You can change that in the egg timer screen to 1 hour, 2 hours, 1 minute, or even don't stop.