Podcast Archives

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:57 — 40.9MB)

Nicole Virgil returns to the show as she continues her fight to grow vegetables in a hoop house in her own, Elmhurst, Illinois backyard. Debbie Trueblood from the Illinois Park and Recreation Association reports on their second annual Unplug Illinois Day. Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, have advice on mid-season veggie crops. Doug Taron, PhD of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum says it’s a great year for fireflies and reports on raising Baltimore Checkerspots on his porch during the pandemic.

Podcast

High Noon in the Straits of Mackinac

June 27, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak 60-Second Garden Video Challenge, Backyard Bumble Bee Count, eco-influencer, Enbridge Line 5, For Love of Water (FLOW), Garden for Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, Oil & Water Don’t Mix, Peggy Malecki, Straits of Mackinac, Surfrider Foundation, The Mike Nowak Show, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35:04 — 43.2MB)

Liz Kirkwood from For Love of Water (FLOW) and Mitch McNeil of Surfrider Chicago talk about shutting down the Enbridge 5 oil pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. Mary Phillips, Senior Director of Conservation for the National Wildlife Federation Garden for Wildlife program, and Jill Utrup from Region 3 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Minnesota talk about how to make your garden pollinator friendly.

Podcast

Tomatomania II with KC and NC!

June 13, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak Artisan Grain Collaborative, Chicago Region Food Fund, COVID-19 food chain, Craig LeHoullier, Dwarf Tomato Project, eco-influencer, Epic Tomatoes, Karen Lehman from Fresh Taste Chicago, KC Tomato, Peggy Malecki, The Mike Nowak Show, tomato breeding

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:32 — 42.8MB)

KC Tomato and Craig LeHoullier return to the show to participate in Tomatomania II. If they can’t answer your tomato questions, nobody can. Karen Lehman from the Chicago Region Food System Fund says they are looking to provide grants to organizations that are responding to the immediate pandemic impacts on communities in Chicago and on food producers, processors, and distributors.

Podcast

Environmental Justice Is Social Justice

June 6, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak Black Lives Matter, Community Supported Agriculture, Crawford Coal Plant, eco-influencer, environmental justice and social justice, George Floyd, Keep Eating Healthy campaign, Kim Wasserman, local food during pandemic, national protests against racism in America, Peggy Malecki, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:31 — 41.1MB)

Part of the national conversation about the death of George Floyd involves how social justice is tied to environmental justice. We welcome Veronica Kyle from Faith in Place, scholar and activist Mila K. Marshall and Michael Howard from Eden Place Nature Center to talk about how we move forward. Then, four businesses from our Keep Eating Healthy campaign stop by to talk about what the COVID Spring season has been like.

Podcast

Botanical Sexism Is Making You Sick

May 23, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak Allergy-Free Gardening, botanical sexism, CO2 and climate change, eco-influencer, Great Lakes beach erosion, male v. female plants, OPALS system, Peggy Malecki, record Midwest rains, The Mike Nowak Show, Tom Ogren

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:38 — 41.6MB)

Tom Ogren, who has been studying how to create allergy-free gardens for more than 25 years, returns to the show to talk about the explosion of pollen and allergies as the world heats up. Bob Bertog of Bertog Landscape Co. and Roger Tietz. from Gillen Marine Construction are working together to prevent beach erosion in the face of unprecedented high Great Lakes water levels.

Podcast

Can Farmers Markets Survive COVID-19?

May 16, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak Advocates for urban Agriculture, Blazing Star Inc., COVID-19 Famer Support Grant, Dennis Warnecke, eco-influencer, Illinois Farmers Market Association, It’s the biology stupid, Janie Maxwell, Peggy Malecki, social distancing, soil biology, Tainio Biologicals Inc., The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:10 — 42.4MB)

Can farmers markets open safely during the COVID-19 and still survive? Janie Maxwell, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association hopes to answer that question. Dennis Warnecke from Tainio Biologicals explains why soil health is all about biology. Sean Ruane of Chicago’s Advocates for Urban Agriculture announces the second round of COVID-19 Farmer Support Grants.

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Breaking Bread with Neighbor Loaves

May 9, 2020May 22, 2020 Mike Nowak Artisan Grain Collaborative, breaking bread, eco-influencer, flour and yeast shortage, Global Big Day, Hewn Bakery, International Migratory Bird Day, Neighbor Loaves, Pam Karlson, Peggy Malecki, Red Hill Birding, Sheryl DeVore, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35:53 — 43.7MB)

Alyssa Hartmann, Executive Director of the Artisan Grain Collaborative, and Ellen King, co-owner and head baker of Hewn in Evanston, talk about the Neighbor Loaves program to bring bread to people who need it. Backyard birders became citizen scientists on the annual Global Big Day on Saturday, May 9. Josh Engel of Red Hill Birding, writer Sheryl DeVore and birder Pam Karlson join us to celebrate the occasion.

Podcast

High Noon in the Straits of Mackinac

Insect Apocalypse on Main Street?

Tomatomania II with KC and NC!

Upcycling Milk Waste into Milk Tees

Botanical Sexism Is Making You Sick

Breaking Bread with Neighbor Loaves

Volunteer Your Garden In a Food Crisis