Nicole Virgil Archives

Beekeeping Gardening Plastics Podcast Recycling

Plastics Mess on Aisle 2 in the Green Industry

March 6, 2021May 19, 2021 Mike Nowak Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), Beth Botts, Bike a Bee, Illinois General Assembly, Institute for Justice, Marie Chieppo, Nicole Virgil, Peggy Malecki, plastic pots, Qae-Dah Muhammad, recycling plastics, Right to Garden law, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:01:17 — 56.8MB)

Landscape designer Marie Chieppo examines why can’t we figure out what to do with horticultural plastic. Jana Kinsman from Bike a Bee and Qae-Dah Muhammad of Arthur Ashe Beach Park Advisory Council talk about raising honey bees in Chicago. Nicole Virgil returns to talk about the Right to Garden bill. She’s joined by Ari Bargil from the Institute for Justice, which is supporting her effort to grow food in her Elmhurst hoop house.

Podcast

Having a Virtual IMPACT on Landscapes

October 10, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak climate change, eco-influencer, EcoBeneficial, Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, IMPACT conference, Jack Pizzo, Kim Eierman, native plants, Nicole Virgil, Peggy Malecki, Right to Garden Act, suburban hoop houses, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:05 — 47.2MB)

The Illinois Landscape Contractors Association (ILCA) annual IMPACT Conference will be virtual this year. Mike and Peggy talk to presenters Jack Pizzo of Pizzon & Associates and Kim Eierman from EcoBeneficial. The sad saga of Nicole Virgil and her fight to be able to have a hoop house in suburban Elmhurst continues. She returns to talk about the latest developments

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

The Right to Garden as Law

March 7, 2020March 14, 2020 Mike Nowak Chicago’s First Factory Farmed Animal Welfare Town Hall, Crate Free Illinois, eco-influencer, Food and Water Watch, Illinois Environmental Council, Mercy for Animals, Nicole Virgil, Peggy Malecki, Right to Garden laws, siting hoop house in backyards, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:40 — 42.2MB)

Nicole Virgil has taken her battle to construct a hoop house in her suburban Elmhurst yard to the Illinois General Assembly. She joins us, along with State Representative Sonya Harper, primary sponsor of the “Right to Garden” bill, and Eliot Clay from the Illinois Environmental Council. Jessica Chipkin from Crate Free Illinois previews Chicago’s first Factory Farmed Animal Welfare Town Hall, along with Tyler Lobdell from Food and Water Watch and Erin Kwiatkowski from Mercy for Animals.

Podcast

Eating Your Neighborhood

April 6, 2019May 17, 2019 Mike Nowak Advocates for urban Agriculture, City of Elmhurst, Dan Protess, Dave Odd, edible foraging, environment, gardening, hoop houses, Nicole Virgil, Peggy Malecki, The Mike Nowak Show, Urban Nature, WTTW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:54 — 47.6MB)

Dan Protess, writer and producer for Urban Nature, talks about the second season of the WTTW online show, featuring an episode about forager Dave Odd, who is also in studio. Nicole Virgil reports on how she is fighting to rewrite Illinois law if the City of Elmhurst won’t allow her to site a hoop house on her property. Laura Calvert from Advocates for Urban Agriculture joins the conversation by phone.

Podcast

October 15, 2017 – When Plants Fight City Hall

October 15, 2017May 1, 2021 Mike Nowak coral reefs microfragmenting, environment, extended growing season, gardening, green living, hoop house, Michele Hoffman, native plants, Nicole Virgil, sustainability, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:45:29 — 48.3MB)

Nicole Virgil wants to grow vegetables in a backyard hoop house and Ron Cress wants to grow native plants on his lot, and they both find themselves fighting City Hall to make it happen. Michele Hoffman welcomes Dr. David Vaughan to the Science Desk to talk about his new growing technique that might give the world’s declining coral reefs a fighting chance.