green living Archives

March 5, 2022 Mike Nowak

Expect Great Growing in 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:55:26 — 55.3MB)

With the start of the 2022 gardening season upon us, we look at the business end and the personal side of great growing. Chris Beytes from Ball Hort’s publication GrowerTalks reports on the state of the industry. LaManda Joy previews the Great Grow Along with presenter Nicole Burke of Gardenary and Rooted Garden.

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January 8, 2022 Mike Nowak

How to Create The Healthy Garden

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:03:32 — 58.8MB)

We start a brand new year with a brand new book. The Healthy Garden: Simple Steps for a Greener World is written by a couple of gardening pros–Kathleen Norris Brenzel and Mary-Kate Mackey. We’ll talk about how and especially why you should become a friend of the earth. Then Mike and Peggy talk about some of the environmental stories making headlines. And meteorologist Rick DiMaio has his first report of the year, following Chicago’s first snow of the year.

Podcast

July 6, 2019 Mike Nowak

Net Zero Energy Design…and Beyond!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44:52 — 49.3MB)

Chicago area architects Tom Bassett-Dilley and Nate Kipnis join Mike and Peggy in studio to talk about the potential for net zero–and possibly net positive-energy design projects. Show regular Melinda Myers returns to talk native plants and getting a late start on veggie planting in the Midwest.

MLK Food Justice and Sustainability Weekend

Podcast

January 13, 2019 Mike Nowak

The REAL National Emergency: Food Justice and Food Insecurity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:45:19 — 48.6MB)

Green Diva Meg returns to talk low stress ways of being sustainable. Gary Oppenheimer of Ample Harvest explains how they’re working to help food pantries deal with the government shutdown. Robert Nevel of KAM Isaiah Israel and Terri Reardon of the Chicago Park District preview the 10th Annual MLK Food Justice and Sustainability Weekend.

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July 21, 2018 Mike Nowak

SNAP SNAFU

Corey Chatman from the Experimental Station helps explain a potential issue concerning SNAP purchases at farmers markets across the country. Green Diva Meg talks about her new podcast at The Green Divas website. Dr. Nicolaas Mink of Sitka Salmon Shares addresses the challenges facing Community Supported Fisheries.

Podcast

June 16, 2018 Mike Nowak

Live from Custer Fair in Evanston

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:45:47 — 48.4MB)

Mike and Peggy are live from the Custer Fair in Evanston, Illinois, where they welcome Tom Klitzkie of Nature’s Perspective Landscaping, meteorologist Rick DiMaio and more.

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May 5, 2018 Mike Nowak

May 6, 2018 – Chicago Grows Green Lawns and Rivers

Ruth Kerzee of the Midwest Pesticide Action Center explains what Chicago Grows Green Week has to do with your lawn. John Quail from Friends of the Chicago River highlights environmental victories and the outlook for the future of this urban river.

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April 28, 2018 Mike Nowak

Coal Ash Threat Dead Ahead!

Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, answer your gardening questions for a cold spring. Pam and Lan Richart from Eco-Justice Collaborative Andrew Rehn from Prairie Rivers Network explain the threat to a cherished east central Illinois river.

Information from Past Shows Podcasts

April 21, 2018 Mike Nowak

Make Earth Day Count

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44:05 — 47.6MB)

Emily Murphy talks about her book Grow What You Love, Chicago Aldermen Michele Smith and Scott Waguespack explain why they want to create a 24-acre park in the North Branch Industrial Corridor, and Jennifer Walling from the IEC reports on a bill that would weaken the state’s Endangered Species Protection Board.

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April 14, 2018 Mike Nowak

April 15, 2018 – Science is for Citizens, Too

Cheryl Julcher from Yellow Brick Properties is a realtor who uses sustainability as a selling point. Cam Davis just garnered 15,000 write-in votes for an MWRD seat in the Illinois primary. But will he be seated? Butterfly expert Doug Taron celebrates 30 years of the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, and has a monarch update.