Past Shows: March-April
2009
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Chris Sauve, Helen Cameron, and Mike
at Uncommon Ground
The kind of dust storm damage that brought the Soil and Water Conservation Districts into being. (USDA photograph)
Peppers growing in the Sheriff's Garden.
The lovely and talented Mick Dumke
Photo by Jane Fresco
Shawn Kingzette at the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
Dan Kosta of the Prairie State Bonsai Society
If Tracy Sabato-Aust is the sexiest women in horticultural,
is Paul Tukey the sexiest man? Hmmm.
Rose Hayden-Smith, looks just like an environmental activist should--warm, beautiful, and ever so slightly tired.
These guys, on the other hand . . . That's Bill Aldrich, turning up like a bad penny on the left, and the all-knowing Ken Benson on the right.
Artfully arranged food scraps . . . with no place to go.
Illinois Senator Heather Steans
Uncommon Ground Restaurant at 3800 N. Clark St. in Chicago
The venerable Richard Tilley, who is much more fun than that sounds.
BethBeth Botts making things clear at a MELA conference . . . something she does very well.
Mike MacDonald in Michigan
Tracy DiSabato-Aust and her new book.
Tony Abruscato with Mike at the 2007 Chicago Flower and Garden Show
An apple blossom. You all know what an apple looks like.
Lee Reich and his new book. And you're looking sexy, too, Lee.
April 26 , 2009
There are two kinds of people in Chicago–at least when it comes to recycling: those who have Blue Carts and those who don’t. The city began investigating the Blue Cart Program about two and half years ago. The results for the pilot program in the Beverly neighborhood were unequivocally positive. Thus, the city announced that Blue Bag was dead and the Blue Carts would be in everybody’s back yards by the end of 2011.
The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation is responsible for carrying out the Blue Cart recycling program, and the point person for this effort is the engaging and candid Chris Sauve. I’m extremely pleased to have him on the show to answer my–and your–questions about the roll out of this important city effort.
You probably don’t know what your SWCD does. I sure don’t. Heck, I’m putting down money that you don’t know what an SWCD is at all. The acronym stands for Soil and Water Conservation District, and they are mandated by a 74 year-old law that was passed as the phrase Dust Bowl entered our lexicon. I want to thank Rick McAndless of the North Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District for calling this important, yet little understood part of the conservation community, to my attention.
His colleagues are Ed Weskerna of the McHenry District and Kelsey Musich of the Kane-DuPage District. By the way, if you’re not sure which district you belong to, you can log on to the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
On September 14 of last year I broadcast a recording of my tour through the Cook County Sheriff’s Garden at roughly 30th and California in Chicago. Mike Taff, who is Administrative Assistant for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, walked me through this remarkable facility, which teaches DCSI detainees the value of growing and harvesting their own food.
Mike wants to take this to the next level, which is to say that he would like a greenhouse to be built on the site, which would enable crops to be produced year round. Since vegetables are given to senior centers, soup kitchens, food pantries and Southside churches, I say let’s do it. If you’re interesting in contacting Mike to make a donation to this worthy cause, you can write to him HERE.
I don't always list upcoming events (I'm not equipped to handle the overwhelming volume of such requests, to tell the truth), but I'm making several exceptions today.
- On Saturday, May 9th, students from Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake will hold their annual Growing with Nature: Organic Plant Sale, sponsored by WRD Environmental, one of the great sponsors of The Mike Nowak Show. Stock up on organic vegetables, herbs and flowers the students have grown and raise funds for this innovative public school and the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm. Get tips from the organic gardening experts who will be on hand, and shop for organic and gardening goods. The event runs from 9AM to 1PM at Station Square at Prairie Crossing, in Grayslake. Here's a pdf with all the information.
- The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory (FOPCON) is having its 20th Annual Herb and Plant Sale on Friday, May 1 (members only, 10am to 8 pm) and Saturday, May 2 (general public). In honor of this event (which is always features an impressive array of plants) FOPCON has selected top selling plants or “Platinum Performers” from their twenty-year sales history. These top sellers have been brought back by popular demand and because they thrive in local growing conditions. Their catalogue has all the information you need (and more!) to choose plants that will fit your needs. Call FOPCON at 708/725-2460 for more information.
- If it's strictly natives you're after, the Gibson Woods Wild Ones are holding their 9th Annual Native Plant Sale on Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. at Gibson Woods Nature Center, 6201 Parrish Ave. in Hammond, Indiana. Over 100 species of flowers, grasses & shrubs. Including prairie, wetland, shade and woodland. For a complete list of plants available log on to www.lakecountyparks.com. For more information, call 219-844-3188 or 219-865-2679. Directions: Take 169 th or 165 th to Parrish Ave. Go North on Parrish to end of street .
April 19 , 2009
This Wednesday is Earth Day, so it’s fitting to have the Chicago Reader’s Mick Dumke back on the show. He, along with Ben Joravsky, are the keepers of the political blog Clout City, which keep tabs on the kiddieland that is otherwise known as your city government.
Mick tends to cover the environmental beat, which is why I like to have him drop by. Among the stories he’s been covering lately is his headline piece about Manny Flores and the search for local green jobs in the Reader’s Green Issue.
Some of the other issues that have caught Mick’s attention lately:
• Can the once industrial powerhouse 10th Ward reinvent itself as a “green” industry center?
• Mick took his camera to a construction and demolition debris sorting center in Chicago. It’s a fascinating look at recycling technology.
• The EPA is finally getting around to calling a spade a spade–basically saying that greenhouse gasses are bad for us (insert punch line about the Bush Administration here). Mick lists the industries that pollute the most.
• In a look at the maneuverings in City Council, Mick shows how difficult it can be to ban a substance that might be harming our children.
• If the market for recycled goods disappears, does recycling, too? Stay tuned.
I’ve been plugging the heck out of “Little Green Men,” the television show that debuts on WYCC, Channel 20/ this Wednesday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. Well, what do you expect? I’m one of the show hosts, for criminey’s sake. That’s why I have one of the show’s producers, Michael Wright and co-host Maria Elena Ponticello on the show with me today. We’ll walk you through what it takes to put program like this together. Believe me, it's a lot harder than radio.
April 12 , 2009
“This is the year of the home grown vegetable.” Okay, who said that? If your answer was Mike Nowak, you are correct, sir (or madam). There are a number of factors that are pointing towards people figuring out that it makes a lot of sense to grow their own food. Which is why I’m happy to have Scott Thalmann from The Chalet on the show.
From what I can figure out, Scott is kind of a stealth gardener. After all, he’s related to the Thalmanns who run The Chalet, but if you type his name into their search engine, it won’t pop up anywhere on their website. Yet, he’s been growing vegetables for 33 years, and was even the subject of a Chicagoland Gardening Magazine article a couple of years ago.
He’s also a retired Morton Grove policeman and I guess I need to ask him if his work on the force prepared him to deal with rogue insects and pathogens. Really, it’s what any responsible horticultural reporter would do.
While we’re on the subject of vegetable gardening, let me introduce you to a terrific site, courtesy of Illinois Extension.
I’m making a couple of appearances this week and I want you to know about them.
On Friday, April 17, I will be stopping by Sid’s Spring Planting Festival at their Bolingbrook store, 550 S. Naper-Plainfield Road at 111th St (Hassert Boulevard.) Actually, I won’t just be stopping by. I’ll be giving a talk on organic gardening around 6:30 p.m. or so. I hope I see you there. Sid’s Marketing Director Scott Henderson says that the festival goes two days–Friday, from about 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Then, on Saturday, April 18, I’m making my way out to Sycamore, to the wonderful Blumen Gardens. At 10:00 a.m. I will give my talk “Organic Lawn Care: Are You Brave Enough?”
Joel Barczak, who, with wife Joan, have created this unique garden oasis, says that this is their 20th Anniversary Celebration and that they are greening up the garden center in a number of interesting ways. Given that they are right in the wheelhouse of our signal at 92.5 FM, and they’re just down the road from St. Charles on Route 64, why haven’t you dropped in?
April 5 , 2009
Remember this word: Biorational. Okay, so my word processing program is underlining it in red, telling me that it’s not a real word. But my word processing program also used to tell me that “website” was not a word. It doesn’t now. See? Things change.
The guy who’s talking to me about biorationals is Shawn Kingzette from The Care of Trees. Shawn and I really got to know each other as board members for the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association (MELA) and he has been my program many times. He’s smart, he’s cute and, ladies, he’s taken. Just thought you should know.
I guess I should explain what the term “biorational” means. They are pesticides that exhibit low toxicity and low impact on the environment. They can be organic, inorganic, or synthetic. Okay, this might not mean much to many of you. The point is that the horticultural industry is working toward figuring out how to fight insects and pathogens with less toxic methods. If you’re interested in this subject (and who isn’t?) check out Shawn’s PowerPoint presentation on the MELA website (hmm, this time “website” isn’t underlined, but “MELA” is.)
Another guy who’s been hanging around my show for a long time (which makes me wonder about him) is Dan Kosta. While he is veteran of 33 years in the horticultural industry and currently works for Vern Goers Greenhouse in Hinsdale, he usually shows up on my show to spread the gospel of Bonsai. As he has explained to me painstakingly and repeatedly, the word is pronounced Bone’-sigh. You say Bonzai!!!! when you jump out of an airplane. A completely different set of circumstances.
He knows of what he speaks, because he has been a member of the Prairie State Bonsai Society since 1986, which includes past and current terms as president of the society. Until this year, he spent 13 years as the editor of the Society’s newsletter (sounds like a pretty thankless job to me. But what do I know?)
As a killer of bonsai plants myself, what I find encouraging is that Dan wrote to me: “Early attempts were failures.” YES!! Of course, he was a child at the time but, still, I’m going to use that as a sign that I should try again myself. Wish me luc
March 29 , 2009
Looking for non-toxic solutions for pest control? You might want to listen to what Rick Moskovitz has to say. He’s the president of A-Plus Pest Control, Inc. and he’s been in the business for thirty years. I met Rick at a green fair last year and had him on the show in August, but I knew I was going to invite him back. I’ve tried some of the products he uses and I’ve found them to be effective and safe.
But don’t take my word for it. Ask Steve Pincuspy of the Safer Pest Control Project. A-Plus Pest Control is endorsed by Safer, which is a not-for-profit organization whose goal is reduce the impact of pesticides on human health. Their programs tend to focus on children, families in low-income housing and others with disproportionate exposure to environmental toxins.
One of the issues that SPCP addresses is the toxicity of lawn-care products. They have sponsored several organic lawn care seminars in Illinois, one of which I attended last year. That puts SPCP on the same page with organic lawn care guru Paul Tukey, whose book The Organic Lawn Care Manual I highly recommend. Paul, founding editor and publisher of People, Places & Plants Magazine, is also the driving force behind SafeLawns.org, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting natural lawn care and grounds maintenance. I was so impressed by his organization that I signed on as a Midwest speaker for SafeLawns (scroll down to my pretty face and bio).
As it so happens, last week caller Corey wanted me to interpret the soil test he had done for his lawn. So I thought, why not bring in the best? Especially since Corey is already leaning towards the organic approach. So Paul and Steve and I are going to put our best efforts into bringing Corey into the organic fold.
Eric Hansen runs the Downers Grove-based Competitive Lawn Care, Inc. I met him at the yearly conference of the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association (MELA) in February and we had an interesting chat. While he admits that he doesn't use organic lawn care methods, he is cutting back on his carbon footprint by converting his power equipment to propane. As he notes, two cycle gas powered small engines are notoriously loud and dirty. Hey, I say make your contribution to a better planet one step at a time.
I’m going up to Milwaukee Art Museum next Saturday to do my organic lawn care presentation for the second annual “Art In Bloom”. I spoke there last April and it was easily the best horticultural event I attended all year. If you have the opportunity this weekend on any of the four days of the show, by all means, make a field trip to Brew City. The museum itself is stunning and the event is an almost perfect pairing of horticulture and art.
“Art In Bloom” co-chair Marcia Velde and Michael George—one of the most sought after floral designers in the United State–walk me through the many workshops, lectures, book signings and, of course, the art show itself. Basically, floral designers in businesses, garden clubs, schools and other organizations are required to create floral displays based on artwork at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It's hard to understand how sometimes breathtakingly creative they are until you actually see these pieces. Believe me, it's time well spent.
March 22 , 2009
Chicago is going dark next Saturday night. But we’re not the only ones. It’s the third annual Earth Hour, which in three short years has become a world wide effort on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund . I'm happy to say that Chicago is one of the key cities in which individuals, businesses, governments and organizations will be turning off their lights at 8:30 Central Time for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.
I’m talking to Nick Sundt, Communications Director for Climate Change at the WWF in Washington, DC. While he has been involved in climate change policy for more than thirty years, I think I’m most fascinated by his work as a U.S. Forest Service firefighter in the 1980s–including six seasons as a smokejumper. Does that make me shallow? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.
The White House is planting a garden. Okay, okay, you already know that. The story has been on every news show in this and all the neighboring galaxies in the past three days, mainly because it's the weekend, and they're all sick and tired of beating up on AIG. My first beef with the New York Times version might be a bit nit-picky, but if you click on that link, look at the section under which it is reported: "Dining and Wine." Well, la-dee-frickin'-da. Sorry, but the story is about re-connecting average people, especially kids, to the earth. Yeah. "Dining and Wine" is just the section that will get me reaching for a shovel. And then in the story, Michelle Obama reportedly says that “the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters...”
Um, hello? What about people like Roger Doiron, who I interviewed on January 25 and who started the Eat the View campaign more than a year ago to pressure the new president, regardless of who might have been elected, to replace part of the White House lawn with an organic garden? Anyway, I talked to Roger the other day and he’s delighted with the result and a bit overwhelmed by all the kudos coming his way. He would have done a victory lap on the show today but he’s spending some quality time with his family.
In his stead, he recommended Rose Hayden-Smith, who is a historian and Food and Society Policy Fellow with the University of California. You might be interested in checking out her Victory Grower website and her blog. Roger says that she knows just about everything when it comes to the White House grounds, and that's good enough for me.
The other voice in studio is one of my buddies, Ken Benson from Triton College. I’ve known him for about eight years, and he’s about a real as the earth itself. Not only that, as an educator and a horticulturist, he’s done it all. It’s always great to have him on my show.
March 15 , 2009
What do you do with your kitchen scraps? If you throw them into the “garbage” you’re contributing to one-third of the waste in Illinois landfills. You could lessen your impact on our environment by composting vegetable scraps in your backyard or in your vermicomposting unit. However, it’s a lot more difficult if you’re producing large quantities of that stuff, as a restaurant might do. According to one source, approximately 500,000 tons of food related wastes are generated per year in Chicago. However, only 9% is currently recycled; the remainder ends up in area landfills
State Senator Heather Steans, whose district covers the north side of Chicago, would like to make it easier for food waste to be composted, thereby saving it from landfills, where it can produce the greenhouse gas methane. The problem is that in the past, the state of Illinois decided that food waste needed to be regulated as “pollution.” Gee, that’s funny. When it’s on my plate it’s “salad’. The minute I throw it into the waste bin it’s “pollution.” Wish I’d known that when I was eating it.
As Melissa Graham writes in her blog, The Local Beet, there are no commercial composting facilities in Chicago or even the entire state of Illinois that accept food scraps.
To help bring Illinois into the 21st Century (like most of the states around us who compost this stuff and then use it or sell it as the valuable soil amendment it is) Senator Steans has introduced Senate Bill 99 (or SB99) which exempts facilities that accept food waste for composting from pollution control facility requirements. Makes sense to me, but I’m just a radio guy. What do I know? That’s why the good senator agreed to stop by and chat.
Helen Cameron and husband Michael also appeared in the beautiful Chicago Progressive Talk studio. They own and operate a couple of pretty cool restaurants in our great city of Chicago. They are called Uncommon Ground–the original is located at 3800 N. Clark Street and their newest location is at 1401 W. Devon Avenue. That’s the one with the organic garden on the roof. Whoa. I’ve been up there and it’s awfully, um, awesome.
They received their organic certification through Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA) in October, 2008, making it Chicago's–and the nation’s--1st Certified Organic Roof Top Farm. In 2500 square feet of roof space, which translates to 640 square feet of soil (they use specially built containers) they grow produce that is used in both restaurants. Check out their website above for more information.
It’s at this point that I mention that I will be at the Devon Uncommon Ground for something that Helen and Michael call their Green Room Sessions. Natalie Pfister is the roof top farm coordinator and, apparently, the Green Room Sessions Coordinator, too. Say hi to her when you stop by on Thursday, March 19, from 6 to 8 pm to see me wax poetic on the Chicago Recycling Coalition. In case you haven't been paying attention, I became president of that venerable Chicago organization a couple of months ago.
The other voice in this segment of the program is Carrie Langford. She is Assistant Director of Environmental Affairs for The Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op Their goal for Chicago restaurants is to
- reduce toxicity,
- conserve natural resources, materials, and energy,
- maximize recyclability and recycled content of the purchased products
- help educate businesses and residents on the merits of environmentally preferable products
- improve conditions for achieving a healthy community through conserving natural resources
- improve water quality and reduce waste generation
...are you getting the picture here? Oh, yeah, they also want to reduce costs for their members while achieving all of the above. I have no problem with that. Knock yourselves out.Then there’s this guy named Rick Bayless. No, he’s not on the show, but his gardener is. That fellow is Bill Shores, and I had the pleasure of traveling down to Quincy, Illinois and back with him last week. We both spoke at the Gardner’s Palette, and we shared views on a number of gardening subjects on the 383 Illinois Zephyr and the 382 Carl Sandburg Amtrak routes (see, one goes out and the other comes back...but you probably already figured that out). I can’t believe this guy doesn’t have a website (Dude! I need to talk to you!), considering he works for you-know-frickin’-who, and I heard him talk about composting and growing micro-greens and a bunch of other pretty cool stuff. If you want to contact him, you need to send him an email: bluegreenedge@yahoo.com. Or you can go to his blog.
Finally, like the frosting on a delicate pastry, I bring on Richard Tilley. You probably don’t know who he is, but that’s your loss. He works with the folks at the Wicker Park Garden Club, who present wonderful seminars and garden walks and who put together my second favorite display at this year’s Chicago Flower & Garden Show. Richard knows more about planting and growing and seeds than I’ve forgotten in about seven lifetimes. And he’s just a joy to be with. So listen carefully. You might learn something.
March 8 , 2009
I’m Twittering!! And, yes, I’m thinking about taking medication for it.
Seriously, there are some new features on my website. You’ll find them both on the home page (Remember? That’s how you got here. In case you forgot, click here to get back. ). The first is Twitter. Yep, after talking to Illinois Extension horticulturist Ron Wolford, who just raved about how much fun it is and how it connects people, I decided to give it a shot. It could just be that Ron is very, very lonely. If so, sign up to follow his messages and make him happy. Personally, I’m just not sure that I want people to know how many blueberries I added to my yogurt this morning. That’s kinda private, ya know?
Anyway, if you’re interested in anything I have to say...er... write, this is my Twitter contact info. At this point, I’m a novice, so be gentle with me, okay?
The other new link on my home page is to the Ironweed Film Club. Ironweed Films is a source of independent documentaries and short films addressing interesting subjects and progressive, forward-thinking themes. Basically, stuff you should know about but you're too busy watching "The Bachelor." A lot of what they feature is right up my alley–documentaries about sustainability, the environment, energy and community--and all of them with the fire of social justice behind them. The New York Times calls Ironweed Films "A monthly progressive film festival on DVD."
Ironweed has set up a special Mike Nowak page on their website, through which you can join their film club and receive 2 free DVDs. If you’re thinking about doing that, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER:.
While I think Ironweed's mission is extremely worthy (I've watched five of their films and have been impressed by the creativity and committment of each of the filmmakers), this is also a financial agreement with my radio program. I say that in italics because that's something you should know. The cause of green, environmental radio in Chicago, that is to say, my show, receives a portion of the proceeds. (Yippee!) It’s also important for you to know that if you sign up to receive the 2 free DVDs (you pay only for shipping and handling), you are joining their film club for however long you choose to be a member and there will be a fee for becoming a member . While that may be obvious to most people, it will be just as unobvious to some. I'm trying to be as straight forward as I can with you about this arrangement. I don’t want any of us to have any unpleasant surprises.
That being said, it’s a pleasure to have Ironweed film acquisitions director Laurie Walters and Chris Metzler, director of a very entertaining film, Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea on the show with me today.
Now onto real gardening stuff. Like the 2009 Chicago Flower & Garden Show, which opened yesterday at Navy Pier. Last week, I interviewed Show Director Tony Abruscato. He said good things about the show because, well, he’s the Show Director. But he wasn't just blowing smoke. It's a pretty darned good show.This week I have Chicago Tribune garden writer Beth Botts in the studio. And because she’s a journalist, she’s going to tell it like it is. In a civilized way, of course. We’re talking to several of the participants in this year’s show, including Carrie Meade from Mariani Landscape, which collaborated with the Chicago Botanic Garden to produce the inspiring "Hope for Healing the Planet" exhibit. Also on the show is Mary Eysenbach, Director of Conservatories at the Chicago Park District ), who will talk about its collaboration with the Garfield Park District & Lincoln Park Conservatory Volunteers, the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, and Kirsten Larson to create the fun and intriguing "Greening Up.” And that's just two of a number of excellent gardens this year.
Also joining us is photographer and professional comedian Mike MacDonald. On Saturday March 14th he’ll be giving a presentation called A Photographic Journey into the Wilds of Chicago at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. If you can’t make that, you might be interested in one of his Creative Eye Workshops.
Hey, don't forget Beth and me, too! We're both doing talks this week:
- Beth Botts, Saturday, March 14: Beauty and the Plastic Beast: Your Plants, Where They Come From and Why It Matters.
- Mike Nowak, Friday, March 13: Organic Lawn Care: Are You Brave Enough?You can find those talks (and Mike MacDonald’s) at this link. Scroll down to the appropriate date and time. Be there. Aloha.
March 1 , 2009
The “sexiest woman in gardening” is on my show today. And if you don’t believe that quote from the Garden Rant blog site, all you have to do is log on to that entry to see what they’re talking about. Personally, I think it’s the hair. And don’t give me none of that “you’re just a guy” stufff–the entry was written by Susan Harris. Last I checked, she’s a woman. So there.
However, that whole diversion does Tracy DiSabato-Aust a disservice because she’s a terrific garden writer and has penned one of the best selling books in the history of horticulture– The Well-Tended Perennial Garden.).
Her new book is 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. What thrills me about this book is that I already have some of those plants in my yard, so I’m not as clueless as I seem.
By the way, Tracy will be out at The Planter's Palette in Winfield this Thursday, March 5 for a morning-long seminar about her new book. You have until tomorrow to get a $10 discount on registration for the event.
The 2009 Chicago Flower & Garden Show opens next Saturday, March 7 and is back at Navy Pier after a two year absence. One of the features of this year’s show is the “Themed Midway.” Garden architects hooked up with some of the city’s most venerable cultural institutions to create dazzling and informative displays. Among the featured organizations are the Shedd Aquarium, the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Museum of Science & Industry, the Chicago Park District Conservatories, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Tony Abruscato, show director & president of Special Events Management says that there are all kinds of other activities to keep gardeners entertained. They range from the Potting Parties that benefit local charities (one of my favorite parts of the show) to the Market Place, where the emphasis this year is eco-friendly products, to the Garden Gourmet (which I skip, ‘cause I ain’t no cook, but that doesn't keep it from being a popular feature).
Last, but certainly not least, are the horticultural seminars . Click onto this link, skip all those other presentations and scroll down to MY SEMINAR on Friday, March 13 (uh, oh, I knew I should have checked the calendar). I’m doing my semi-world famous talk, Organic Lawn Care: Are You Brave Enough? This is a talk that has scared the bejeezus out of countless suburban husbands. ATTEND AT YOUR OWN RISK!
We all want to grow fruit. Seriously. I mean, who wouldn’t want to pick luscious blueberries or crisp apples or sweet strawberries in their own yard? I mean, aside from the fact that pruning apple trees is akin to piloting the space shuttle and you might as well try to grow a telephone pole as a blueberry bush in Chicago. That’s why I invited Al Cosnow and Chuck Heisinger from Midwest Fruit Explorers to stop by. The members of Midfex, as they like to call it, are basically amateurs, though you couldn’t tell if from these videos of Cosnow and Gene Yale. You’re not going to believe the apple trees that Gene has in his yard, and it’s not because they’re so large.
If you want to learn more about grafting than you can get from that video, you might want to attend one of their seminars on March 22 and March 29.
And, as luck would have it, a book arrived in the mail this week that fits neatly into this very topic. Lee Reich has just written a book on how you can grow fruit and fit it into your landscape, too. It’s called, uh, Landscaping with Fruit (you saw that coming, didn’t you.) In addition to telling you how to grow your fruit–with cold and heat maps and soil and pruning tips–Reich explains how to design your fruit, and I don’t mean on the kitchen table. He shows you how to incorporate it into the landscape in a smart, ecologically friendly way.
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