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Maurice Ogutu

 

 

 


KAM Isaiah Israel starts harvesting


The garden echoes the lines of the building

 


The Illinois Renewable Energy
and Sustainable Lifestyle Fair

 

 

 


Tour des Trees rider taking a well deserved break in Kewanee. Amazing dedication!

 


Mick Dumke

 

 

 


The legendary Chuck Leavell, tree farmer


Scott Jamieson


Shawn Kingzette and Geoff Cowan


Suzanne Malec-McKenna

 

 


2010 STIHL Tour des Trees

 


Dearborn Garden Walk

 

 

 

 


One of Andersonville's certified green businesses

 


Dan Kosta of the Prairie State Bonsai Society

 

 

 

 

 


This is what is endangered by the Mega-Dairy.

 


Runoff from a factory farm. Those are cows crammed
together in that building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Asian carp

 

 

 


Mike judged the vegetable costumes in the Veggie parade at the Peterson Garden celebration.

 

 

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August 8, 2010

Post-torrential rains: are your garden veggies safe to eat?

I received an email this past week from my buddy Dan Kosta, a faithful listener, Vern Goers Greenhouse employee and bonsai offcianado (he's president of the Prairie State Bonsai Society). He's been a good friend of the program so I was unhappy to see how severely his suburban Westchester garden had been damaged by recent rains and flooding. Here's in part what he wrote:

In my garden all the veggies were under water for 3 days and all are dead and rotted. I will not be replanting but I will get things from local farmers markets. I estimate 80% to 85% of the plants in my garden are dead or severely injured by the flood. I had 4 feet of water in the garden, as well as 4 feet in the basement. Looking at the garden now is depressing. The smell of rot is everywhere. Even plants that like moisture are dead or dying.

Finally, he said this:

As for me, I am giving up on gardening.

I can understand his despair but he's a good, kind man and I hope he changes his mind. In another part of his message he raised some interesting questions about whether people who experienced flooding should be worrying about contamination of their fruit and vegetable crops.

That's why I went straight to the experts at the University of Illinois Extension. Maurice Ogutu, PhD is an Extension Educator specializing in Fruits and Vegetables and works out of the Countryside Extension Center. He is also one of the contributors to Illinois Fruit and Vegetable News a terrific resource, as are so many of the Illinois Extension websites.

I haven't talked to Ogutu yet so I can't tell you at this point what his advice is. After the show this morning, I will update this part of the website and post the information on my BRAND-SPANKING NEW BLOG: Go Green or Go Home!


It's the 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees Reunion! (Woo-hoo!)

Gosh, we miss each other so much that, three weeks after the event, we're already reminiscing about the "Glory Days." Actually, it seemed appropriate to recap this terrific event, which benefited the TREE Fund, because so many people worked so hard to make it happen.

Let's start with Mary DiCarlo from the TREE Fund, who was behind the scenes, organizing so many different aspects of the tour--from lining up sponsors to creating the tour launch to bringing The Mike Nowak Show on board for the big broadcast in Millennium Park on July 18.

Of course, there is no Tour des Trees without the riders. Not only are they required to raise $3500 just for the privilege of joining the pack, then they must get on those seemingly slight and vulnerable machines and pedal about 500 miles in a matter of days. There's a lot of bonding that goes on during that time, and three of the riders--Pam Pinkley, Mark Younger and Greg Cadieux--call themselves the "Tree Amigos." Ironically, though, they hadn't seen each other in 24 years before this event. However, they hooked up on Facebook last fall and decided that this would be a great way to get together.

Then there are the people like Jim Skiera, Executive Director of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and John Kirchner, Senior Forester for the Chicago Bureau of Forestry. And they're all going to telling their stories on the show today. By the way, if you want to see some great pictures of the week-long tour, click on the photo at left or HERE. One of the stops was in Kewanee, Illinois, where we visited the historic Osage-Orange Tree. I shot video of one of the riders ascending the tree with new, cutting edge arborist technology and you can find it here on my Facebook page.

At Peak Harvest, what do you do? Celebrate!

Next Saturday, August 14, I'm having dinner at Angelic Organics Learning Center. If you're a listener to the show, you know this is one of the organizations that is at the forefront of the national local food movement. Martha Boyd, program director for their Chicago Urban Initiative has been a regular on my program for awhile.

The Angelic Organics Learning Center fourth annual Farm Dinner benefit is being served, appropriately, at Angelic Organics Farm. Guests will be feted right on the farm, with a five-course meal made from freshly harvested local food and prepared by rising chefs

Angelic Organics Learning Center helps urban and rural people build local food systems. They offer
opportunities to grow healthy food and a better quality of life, connect with farmers and the land,
and learn agricultural and leadership skills. And since they're a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, your contribution is tax deductible. Even if you can't attend this dinner, you could do a lot worse than to send some money their way.

By the way, I have to come clean and tell you that I'm attending dinner as the guest of my good friends Rich and Suzie Eyre of Rich's Foxwillow Pines in Woodstock (but I know that I'll be bidding on a silent auction item or two.) I will be givng a talk at Foxwillow's upcoming Hosta Happening on August 29...but you'll hear more about that later.

August 1, 2010

Squash, social justice and the Secret Service

Now if I could just write the novel that goes along with that headline, I'm sure I'd be a gazillionaire. But while I'm coming up with the plot, I'll explain what this is all about. On January 10 of this year, Robert Nevel appeared on my show to talk about KAM Isaiah Israel and its Martin Luther King, Jr.Social Justice Weekend program on food justice, urban farming and the environment.

Now it's one thing to talk about social justice. It's quite another to get out there and dig in the dirt. But that's just what the congregation has done for two summers in the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation Food Producing Garden. I stopped by last Sunday after my radio show to take a quick look and I was impressed not only by the quantity of food being harvested but by how the design has allowed the garden to have a minimal impact on the overall landscape.

I was also, er, impressed by the watchful eye of the Secret Service agents. As in "those guys who protect the POTUS." You see, President Barack Obama's Chicago home is directly across the street from KAMII. Meaning that if you're tossing away a bad squash, you might hit his front stoop. And then the Secret Service guys would have a little chat with you. And you would never do that again. On the other hand, I don't think anybody is going to steal any tomatoes from the garden anytime soon.

Nevel and fellow gardener Gloria Needlman say that the KAMII Social Justice Committee has a number of goals, including growing organic food and donating the harvest to soup kitchens and food pantries within a one mile radius of the garden. I know that they're already doing that because Robert enlisted me to help deliver food to a local pantry immediately after my tour of the garden last Sunday.

Other goals are to teach the congregation about food production and sustainable land use, to establish KAMII as a model for other congregations and organizations, to educate the community about health eating and, last but not least, how to be be good stewards of the land by converting unproductive lawns into food producing gardens. Amen, brother! Oops, got my religious wires crossed for a second there.

The renewable energy center of Illinois is...Ogle County?

At least it is next Saturday and Sunday, August 7 and 8. That's when the 9th Annual Illinois Renewable Energy & Sustainable Lifestyle Fair will be held at the Ogle County Fairgrounds in Oregon, IL. This is the real deal, says Bob Vogl, president of the Illinois Renewable Energy Association, which is presenting the fair. Though the IREA is not the largest not-for-profit organization in the world (Bob's wife Sonia is Vice President and Treasurer) the two days of the fair have it all. There are more than 60 workshops and more than 100 exhibitors, not to mention tours, displays, children's activities, food, entertainment...and GREEN LIVING! Whoo-hoo!

Seriously, here is just a sampling of the workshops:

  • Alternative energy - a primer
  • Demystifying LEED for homes
  • Do-it-yourself low-cost solar hot air collector in a weekend
  • Effective payback from solar energy, conservation & sustainability
  • Electrical safety with renewable energy systems
  • "Green" your home remodel

And on and on and on. Vogl had me in the palm of his hand when he told me that he's working on an energy efficient greenhouse--one that wouldn't need to be artificially heated in the winter. And one of the presenters is Victor Zaderej, who is constantly tinkering to make his own home energy efficient. He told me about construction standards developed in Germany called "passive house" (Passivhaus in German) Under that concept, Zaderej claims you can heat a housee on the coldest day of the year with 1 watt of energy per square foot. That means that a 2000 sqaire foot home (about the size of my hown house, interestingly) hair dryer. (He's welcome to try that on my barn of a home anytime he wants.) By the way, if you want more information on solar-powered homes, Zaderej recommends the website Solar Homes LLC.

The fair runs Saturday, August 7, 9:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 8, 9:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. Admission is absurdly inexpensive: $7 each day for adults or $10 for both days. Teens get in for $3 and $5 respectively, and children under 12 get in free. FYI, pets are not allowed on the Fairgrounds, that includes the parking lot. Please leave your pet at home or check it in at a local kennel. Hey, what if you want your pooch's dog house to be energy efficient? I'm just askin'...

Urban farming takes a village

This year, Will Allen was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. No, he’s not a politician—he’s a farmer.

In 1993, Allen launched Growing Power—an urban farm and teaching program—in one of Milwaukee’s food deserts, where there are more fast-food drive-ins than walk-in grocery stores. It all started when Allen decided to give unemployed teens a place to work. Now, the 3-acre spread is a healthy-food destination for locals who are welcomed to work on the farm, and encouraged to learn how to grow their own food.

Green Correspondent Leah Pietrusiak is on site and reports that the Growing Power store is open all year and the produce--from apples and oranges to green beans and potatoes--is dee-lish! (her words, her exclamation mark) The site is the last zoned farmland in Milwaukee, and there are bee hives, chickens, goats—and one humongous pile of compost known as “the volcano.” (You can't exactly fry an egg on it but compost gets pretty hot as it decomposes.)

"i could talk about compost all day," says staff supervisor Sarah Christman, who last week was helping volunteers load buckets of soil onto trucks bound for some of Growing Power’s 13 production sites throughout Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago. Hmm. That sounds like a dare. Bring it on, baby!


July 25, 2010

More musicians and another great cause

I've recovered from last week's big broadcast. I think. During the week, I headed over to Kewanee, Illinois to see the 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees riders visit the historic Potter Osage-orange tree that was in danger of being cut down as recently as a year ago. I should note that the riders were well into their fifth day of riding--mostly in stultifying heat--and it showed. They were sweaty and exhausted but still in good spirits. My hat is off to those intrepid supporters of the TREE Fund.

I hope you go to my home page to see the slide shows of last Sunday's broadcast in Millennium Park,as well as photos of the Tour des Trees stop in Kewanee, and video of several riders--complete with orange shirts and bicycle helmets, ascending the tree for a photo op. By the way, in case you didn't catch the Facebook comments, that method of scaling a tree is state of the art, according to Scott Jamieson from Bartlett Tree Experts.

But back to this week's show and music. Last week, I was honored to interview Chuck Leavell on the show. Not only is the man a brilliant musician and just as knowledgeable about tree care, but he is one of the most down-to-earth, approachable geniuses I have ever met. And he's doing tremendous good for trees and the environment in general.

This week, I'm bringing more musicians on the show, thanks mostly to producer Heather Frey, who told me about Threadhead Records (THR), Who better to write a song about the monstrous-Gulf-oil-spill-courtesy-of-BP catastrophe than musicians from New Orleans?

THR, which formed after Hurricane Katrina to help Gulf Coast musicians keep producing music for the world—has, in three short years, helped in the creation of 24 CDs . Threadhead fronts money to musicians, who pay it back with interest when they release their recordings. Most of the funds go to New Orleans Musicians Clinic. However, with the BP spill being the latest catastrophe to hit the Gulf Coast, THR has released a song called “Nobody Knows Nothin'.” It features the world-famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Threadhead label artists including John Boutte (who wrote the popular theme song to HBO's hit series Treme) and Paul Sanchez, formerly of New Orleans' own Cowboy Mouth.

Sanchez and Threadhead founder Chris Joseph say you can download the song for just $1.29 with proceeds going to Gulf Aid, a nonprofit corporation which formed after the biggest spill in U.S. history. The group aids organizations focused on preserving the wetlands and coastal environment, the livelihood of fishermen, and the regional seafood industry.

Mick Dumke moves on...but recycling in Chicago doesn't.

A couple of weeks ago, The Chicago Reader's Mick Dumke called to get a quote from me. He was writing another of his insightful stories about recycling--or the absence of it--in Chicago. Of course, for those of you who have listened to the show more than once, I am president of the Chicago Recycling Coalition (a non-paying job, by the way, so don't get your knickers in a twist) and I have more than a casual interest in this issue.

It was the lead story for this past week's Reader and it was probably his last for that publication. Like the headline and the way Mick writes in general, the story got right to the heart of the matter: "Why Can't Chicago Recycle?" What I had to add to the report is marginal at best. I think he quoted me simply because he likes me. And maybe because he needed some words from the environmental organization that sweats blood over the city's cavalier attitude toward one of the cornerstones of 21st Century environmentalism.

And then he told me that he was leaving The Reader for something called The Chicago News Cooperative. Of course, I was not to reveal this in public, but it was going to happen in a couple of weeks. Well, now it's a fait accompli and Chicago Reader media writer Michael Miner explains the move and gives Mick a nice send off in this article. If you can't get enough of Mick Dumke (and who can?) you can read about it in the Huffington Post, too.

All I have to say is that I'm glad Mick is staying in town and that (I think) he will continue to be a guest on my show. I won't even go into Mayor Richard M. Daley's threat to shove a gun up his...well, you know. And Michael Miner covers it in his story anyway. The point is that good journalism is in short supply in America. All you need to know about that are two words: Shirley Sherrod. We need more people like Mick Dumke. I'm proud to call him a friend and colleague.

July 18, 2010

It's the 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees broadcast!

Yes, Chuck Leavell is on the show but I'll get to him in a minute. I might be intimidated by interviewing an iconic rock 'n roller but just the thought of sitting on the broadcast stage looking out over the Great Lawn at Millennium Park gives me goosebumps. However, the July heat should take care of that.

I will start with the TREE Fund, which will benefit from all of this. As they say themselves, "The TREE Fund provides research grants, scholarships and educational programs to advance knowledge in the field of arboriculture and urban forestry." It's a great organization. 'Nuff said.

Now onto the guests of today's extravaganza. First up is Scott Jamieson from Bartlett Tree Experts. They are a Crown Sponsor of the event and, in honor of the tour, recently planted three trees in Millennium Park. Bartlett planted three trees in Millennium Park in honor of the event.

Then it's riders Andrew Fittsley, Beth Buchanan, John Kirchner and Kristin Wild. Maybe I'll ask them why, if they've already raised at least $3,500 just to be in the Tour des Trees, they also have to ride several hundred miles in the summer sun. Perhaps I'm unclear on the concept.

At 10:00 a.m., as we wrap up the broadcast with the official ceremony, the 60 or so riders will leave Millennium park and head north (here's the entire route and description) to Zion, west to Rockford, over to Galena, down to Moline, east to Princeton, continuing to Naperville, and wrapping up with a 30-mile "Ride for Research" on July 24 that loops from Fermi Lab to the Morton Arboretum. You can take part in that one day event for $75. More information here.

One of the cool stops on the tour will be in Kewanee, Illinois on Thursday, July 22. That's when the riders visit the historic Potter Osage-orange tree. I have talked about this tree on the show a number of times after I was alerted to it by arborist Guy Sternberg. Basically, the tree dates to before the Civil War but was in danger of being removed because it is leaning over a thoroughfare.

The riders, along with dozens of arborists and municipal foresters, will inspect the tree on Thursday. All riders will review the historical, biological and political context, offer their assessment, and receive a pocket-sized cutting from the tree. Guy Meilleur, ISA Board-Certified Master Arborist, recently wrote a report on the state of the tree, and included photos. It's a fascinating project.

One of the show segments today is "Ask the Arborist." I suppose that if you're doing an event that is all about tree research and education, this is a necessary thing. Geoff Cowan from The Davey Tree Expert Company and my buddy Shawn Kingzette from The Care of Trees. By the way, my heartfelt thanks to Davey and TCOT for sponsoring my broadcast.

The second hour starts with the Commish. I'm speaking of another friend, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Environment Suzanne Malec-McKenna. One of her great passions is trees--as a matter of fact, I think she helped to start the TreeKeeper Program at Openlands (but don't quote me). Chicago is now attempting to increase it tree canopy cover in the next few decades with their Chicago Trees Initiative, a bold project. Chicago's current average citywide tree canopy is 17.2% and the target is "20 percent by 2020"

Oh, I should mention that Suzanne will be accepting a gift to the city. The TREE Fund, Davey and STIHL are donating a cordless hedge-trimmer--the new 36-Volt STIHL Lithium-Ion Hedge Trimmer, to be precise--just the kind of thing that can be used on one of those rooftop gardens, where an electrical outlet might be hard to find. I plan to make them fire up that puppy during the broadcast.

Okay, NOW let's talk about Chuck Leavell. Um...what do you say about a guy who's played music with The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, Train and many others AND is among the most accomplished keyboardists on the planet AND an inductee in both the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame?

But did you know that he is an accomplished conservationist and tree farmer? Leavell and wife Rose Lane White Leavell turned her family's plantation near Macon, GA., into what has become a textbook tree farm: Charlane Plantation. Subsequently, he has become the onlty two-time recipient of the Georgia Tree Farmer of the Year award. In 1999, the American Tree Farm System selected Chuck and Rose Lane as the National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year. All pretty good for a guy who studied forestry by correspondence and doing much of his homework while riding a tour bus with the Fabulous Thunderbirds in the mid '80s,

Chuck Leavell's book, Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest (published by Evergreen Arts, released July of 2001) has been acclaimed by both the forestry and conservation communities, and has been nominated for several awards. Forever Green is now in it's second edition in the US and has been translated and released in Germany and Austria.

He's also behind The Mother Nature Network. It's a lively website featuring daily environmental news, green commentary and simple steps to save money, stay healthy, and support the planet. Does this guy ever sleep?

July 11, 2010

Great summer events in a great city: Part I

The Mike Nowak Show broadcasts from the 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees
I would be remiss if I didn't start this post by reminding you that my show will be broadcasting LIVE from Millennium Park next Sunday, July 18. The 2010 STIHL Tour des Trees launches
from the park that morning with my broadcast and an official ceremony, which I will also MC.

Highlights of the show will include

A cross-country cycling tour now in its 19th year, the Tour des Trees has become the signature fundraising event of the TREE Fund , and America's largest fundraising event for tree research and education . Mike is honored to be the radio host chosen to broadcast the proceedings to the Chicago radio audience.
.

Great summer events in a great city: Part II

The 52nd Annual Dearborn Garden Walk and the The 42nd Annual Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival
There are garden walks and then there are garden walks. As you can see, both of these events have been around for a long time and they both highlight the city in strikingly different ways. If I were forced to explain the difference, I might say that the Dearborn Garden Walk is more about art and the Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival is more about having a party. But I won't say that because it would probably get me in trouble with somebody. What they ARE both about are some terrific gardens.

Former Chicago Gardener of the Year Laury Lewis is co-chair of the Sheffield Garden Walk Committee, which produces the walk under the auspices of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association. Next Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and 18, you can see more than 90 gardens on the Self-guided tour, though you can opt for the Guided Garden Tours of selected gardensat 3:30 pm Saturday and Sunday. There are also Guided Architectural Tours on Saturday at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm and on Sunday at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

And then there's the music, which is legendary. Laury is making producer Heather Frey happy again this year by bringing CDs to my show featuring the traditional headliners, Cowboy Mouth and Rusted Root. There are a slew of other great bands, that play from noon to dusk on the main stage at Webster and Sheffield. Click here for the complete line up. DONATION: $7; $10 after 3pm.

By the way, for the third straight year, I was one of the judges of the Sheffield Walk Garden Contest. Laury asked me, along with Gethsemane Garden Center's John Eskandari and former Chicagoland Gardening Magazine publisher Bill Aldrich, to tour the gardens and put our heads together to declare winners in various categories. Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the gardens on display. Keep in mind that there are many beautiful gardens on the walk that weren't entered in the competition.

One of the differences between the two events is that the Dearborn Garden Walk is Sunday-only, July 18. Dearborn Garden Walk Co-Chair Woody Olsen says that last year's "Literary Garden Tour" was a big hit. So the North Dearborn Association, which runs the walk, has expanded the designer garden vignettes for 2010. Highlights include eight “Hollywood-inspired” outdoor seating vignettes. Among the scenes will be “A Great Gatsby”, “Sunset Boulevard”, “Breakfast At Tiffany's” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” (If you see a great monolith...RUN!)

The Dearborn Garden Walk is a self-guided tour of more than twenty of Chicago's most spectacular, private rear gardens. It's from 12pm-5pm and begins at 1300 N. Dearborn Parkway in Chicago (entrance at corner of Goethe and Dearborn streets). Tickets are $35.00 on July 18, 2010 and $30.00 in advance. And, in a nice touch, all advance ticket purchasers are automatically entered in drawings for goods and services from neighborhood businesses. For ticket purchase information, call: 312-632-1241 or visit: www.DearbornGardenWalk.com

Great summer events in a great city: Part III

Andersonville Green Week, July 12 - 18
I have a lot of fondness for Andersonville because I lived up in that area for about eleven years. Well, eco-Andersonville has created a celebration of all things green, starting tomorrow and going through next Sunday. The event highlights Andersonville businesses' and residents' commitment to green living with events, activities, and demonstrations.

Their spokesperson on the show today is Nina Newhouser, who I've known since my days at Gargantua Radio down the dial. (If you're a regular listener, you know who that is. And NO, I'm not going to give them any publicity or put their link here. I'm petty that way.) Nina is here to tell us about all of the activities, which include a huge block party on Saturday, July 17; family activities all week long; sustainable food demonstrations, products and classes; tours of historic locations, LEED homes and urban trees; gardening activities; health and fitness seminars and MORE.

It's going to be a great week of learning and fun. Stop by this lovely neighborhood this week if you have a chance.

The Man, the Myth, the Bonsai Artist
I can be talking about no other person than Dan Kosta, who works for Vern Goers Greenhouse in Hinsdale and who has saved my bacon on numerous occasions with his vast horticultural knowledge.

Of course, his REAL passion is bonsai. And because he's the president of the Prairie State Bonsai Society, he's here to talk about their annual show next Saturday and Sunday, July 17 & 18 at the Morton Arboretum. Show hours are 10 am - 6 pm Saturday and 10 am - 4 pm Sunday. The show will include a display of member's trees, vendors selling bonsai items, 3 bonsai demonstrations each day (2 by visiting masters), and bonsai workshops. The show will be held in the Special Events room of the Visitor's Center. The public is invited to attend and learn about this ancient art. The good news? There'is no additional charge for the show beyond the Arboretum parking fee.

Now, a confession. Dan has been trying to get me to climb on the bonsai bandwagon for YEARS. Of course, I'm always happy to help him get the word out about Prairie State Bonsai Society events. However, I killed my first bonsai plant with stunning efficiency and that made me a little skittiish. However, one of my radio guest gave me another bonsai last year--a Carmona, or Fukien Tea plant. Incredibly, it is not only still alive, but thriving.

I'm frightened. What happens if I become one of those "Bonsai People"? Ahhhhhhhh!...

Last, but not least, Ann Molloy from Neptune's Harvest
I'm pleased to have Ann back on the show. Ann is part of Neptune's Harvest Fertilizer, one of the great organic sponsors of my show. Ann is delightfully east coast--you can tell by the accent--and she has the straight skinny on turning fish and seaweed into some of the best fertilizers on the planet. I might just ask her if this is going to work on the Asian Carp now on the verge of invading the Great Lakes. Hey, I would INVEST in that business.

July 4, 2010

4th of July: Freedom from Mega-Dairy manure?
In April I did a presentation at the 3rd Annual North Lake Shore Earth Day 2010 at Loyola University. As I walked out of the seminar room I was approached by a man named Ken Turner. He had some information that he wanted me to respond to, about a proposed "mega-dairy" in Jo Daviess County, which he and his colleagues consider an environmental threat to one of the most picturesque places in all of Illinois. He asked for my help and told me about a website called Stop the MegaDairy.org.

It's taken me several months to get back to Ken, and the issue he outlines is a battle that has been going on in Jo Daviess County for almost three years, pitting local residents against California dairyman A.J. Bos and, in some cases, against each other. Basically, A.J. Bos wants to build a mega-dairy operation on 100 acres, though he purchased 1,450 acres, and at one point was trying to get TWO mega-dairy operations approved--each with 5,464 cows--until the threat of a lawsuit caused him to back off. I don't have the space to go into all of the details here and the Rockford Register Star did a good job of outling the issues in this article.

But that was two years ago. For awhile, it looked as if things were going well for the people behind the StopTheMegaDairy website--a group called H.O.M.E.S. (Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards). They describe themselves as "a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, pro-agriculture group of farmers and citizens dedicated to protecting family farms, rural communities, human health, and the environment by promoting sustainable agriculture and conserving natural resources."

The Jo Daviess County board voted 11-5 against the Bos farm in February of 2008. But that vote was non-binding, according to state law. It's the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) that has the final say over whether to grant a permit.. Then, in October of 2008, Judge Kevin J. Ward of Jo Daviess County signed a Preliminary Injunction Order restraining the operation of a proposed 6,850 animal unit concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) dairy less than a mile from the town of Nora. By the way, from what I've read, the animal unit numbers seem to change daily. It seems as if nobody knows the real number of cows that will be part of this operation. One more thing. If you want to know the kinds of dangers posed by CAFOs, this article about a 2002 joint study by Iowa State University and the University of Iowa might open your eyes.

Around the time of the temporary injunction, then-Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn presented HOMES with and Environmental Hero Award for standing up to Bos. Things were still looking good.

But there's a reason big business is called "big business." It's big. And it has deep pockets. The litigation continued. Judge Ward dismissed IDOA from the suit,, Bos attempted to have the case moved to federal court. But in April of 2009, a United States District judge, remanded the case back to the state court in Jo Daviess County. It was the third major legal defeat handed to Bos.

And yet, in December of 2009, the case was back in court, where Judge Ward lifted the temporary injunction against Bos, ruling in favor of of the mega-dairy.

However, the HOMES folks haven't given up. They claim that the operation would place 43 acres of manure within 1 mile of hundreds of people and within 2 miles of over 1,000 people, a school, a clinic, and more. They're also concerned about the placement of the manure ponds within 5 feet of the area's aquifer. And they argue that  the mega-dairy is applying--illegally--for a permit to bulldoze the origin of the South Fork Apple River in order to place one of the largest manure pits on top of it.

One of the most compelling arguments they have is that this is a region of karst topography. In karst areas, surface runoff drains into sinkholes and flows through solution enlarged conduits--caves, if they are large enough for a human to crawl into--in the underlying rock until it is discharged through springs into surface streams at lower elevations. If you look at the map on the HOMES site, you will see that karst underlies virtually all of Jo Daviess County. Good luck keeping the mega-farm runoff out of the aquifer.

Anyway, Ken and Susan Turner are on the show today. They live about two and a half miles from the mega-dairy site. Ken has been a board member of HOMES since it's inception. I'm sure they have a lot to say. They are joined by Kate J. Thomas, who wrote her MIT Masters thesis about this very subject a couple of years ago. Hang on to your Slo Pokes.

Asian Carp to the Great Lakes: "We have you surrounded!"
Last week, I spoke with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Josh Mogerman about the alarming news that the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee announced that they had captured an invasive bighead carp in Lake Calumet, 6 miles away from Lake Michigan. The news doesn't get any better this week.

Those eating, reproducing machines have now been discovered in the Wabash River in Indiana, near Ft. Wayne. Why is this so frightening? From the NRDC press release:

The discovery of a spawning population of Asian carp in the Wabash River is of particular concern because of the possibility the Wabash could flood into the Maumee River in Indiana. The Maumee River flows to Lake Erie and is identified by carp specialists as an ideal habitat for Asian carp

While I'm please that a laundry list of national and Great Lakes conservation organizations sent a letter to President Obama this week, urging him to put the federal response to the Asian carp crisis into overdrive...I'm not holding my breath. Are you?

Leah Pietrusiak is on location...wherever that is
Our very own--and only--reporter for The Mike Nowak Show promises that she will give us a "green" story for this red, white and blue day. Hey, I just send her out there and I get what I get. But she's always entertaining...especially at a party.

There were parades and carrots!
I stopped by the big 3rd of July celebration yesterday for the brand spanking new Peterson Garden Project on the city's north side. If you're a regular (or even irregular) listener, you might remember that I've been following the creation of this community garden on the site of a real World War II Victory Garden. Lamanda Joy (@TheYarden, for you folks on Twitter) was, of course, there, along with Tweeter @Xanboni and a bunch of folks who have now put their sweat equity into making the garden a reality.

There were also kids in vegetable costumes (how cruel can you get!), music, lemonade, salads, hot dogs and, as you can see below, "veggie" cupcakes. People even continued to tend their garden plots as the entertainment went on around them. Now comes the hard--or easy--part, depending on your point of view: keeping the gardens tended. I'm sure some will continue to be spectacular and others so-so. There are still plots available, and if you life up near Peterson and Campbell you might want to apply. Check out the Peterson Garden Project newsletter for more information.


  • composting demonstrations
  • garden tool sharpening
  • food vendors

What's really scary is that they're going to let me answer gardening questions from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Ask an Illinois Master Gardener Booth. Do they have Internet?

 

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