Information
from Past Shows
August
Vicki Nowicki flashes the
"Live Green and Prosper" sign.
Mike at the left and Jack Pizzo at the right
on Jack's prairie
Just what the Giving Gardens
project needs.
Mike's boss at Chicagoland Gardening Magazine, Bill Aldrich, does his Tim Conway imitation for the camera as the legendary Ken Benson, coordinator of ornamental horticulture at Triton College, tries not to look like Harvey Korman.
August 31, 2008
Some of you may have heard me on Jake Hartford’s show yesterday morning talking about a benefit for the Chicago Recycling Coalition on Thursday, September 11. It’s a play called Dashiell Hamlet that will be performed at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr in the Edgewater Neighborhood of Chicago. For benefit tickets, call 773-293-3682 and reference the Chicago Recycling Coalition.
Dashiell Hamlet is a retelling of Shakespeare’s most famous play as a film noir mystery set in 1945 post-war Hollywood. Chicago acting and directing legend Mike Nussbaum directs. Yes, I had a hand in writing the script and, yes, I have a part in the play (and it's not just a walk-on).
Tickets for the benefit are $30, which, of course, goes to the excellent work of the Chicago Recycling Coalition, the people who helped defeat the ineffective and wasteful Blue Bag program in Chicago. After the show, there will be an opportunity to talk to Mike Nussbaum and the actors over a glass of wine at Francesca’s Bryn Mawr just across the street. Hey, you can even talk to me. I’m an approachable guy. Really.
There’s a new Graduate Program at Northwestern University in Plant Biology and Conservation--a collaboration between NU and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Student Diane Huebner was the person who alerted me to this, and she dragged Dr. Nyree Zerega and Dr. Patrick Herendeen to the south Pulaski studios to talk about how this program is preparing students for future leadership positions in botanical science and plant conservation. I wish I had known about this kind of thing when I was in school. I probably wouldn’t have majored in Pinball (hmm, I think I just dated myself).
Do you have problems with deer munching on your plants? You probably need a copy of Peter Derano's new book, Creating a Deer-Proof Garden . He says a lot of the things that I’ve been saying for years about this problem–namely that you should start by planting things that deer are less likely to eat. And he has a huge list of those plants in his book. If you insist on doing things the hard way (having a tulip garden, for instance), he tells you which deterrents work and for how long. Now I’m waiting for his book on rabbits...
Some quick links:
• Hosta Happening at Rich’s Foxwillow Pines, Saturday, Sept. 6
• Chicago’s Largest Pot of Mulligan Stew at Hobo Fest in the Historic Pullman Neighborhood
• I’m happy to announce that West End Florist and Garden Center (a proud sponsor of The Mike Nowak Show, is recycling their plant containers! Stop by West End Florist & Garden Center, 3800 Old Glenview Road, Evanston, IL
• The Daily Herald’s Giving Garden is still accepting produce for shelters and pantries all over Chicagoland. Give ‘em some zucchini, okay?August 24, 2008
It isn't easy keeping track of all the political doings of a city the size of Chicago, but that's kind of what columnist Mick Dumke does in Clout City, the political blog for the Chicago Reader. He and fellow reporter Ben Joravsky do their best to hold the city's feet to the fire when it comes to all kinds of above board and sometimes not-so-above-board doings, including environmental activities, like recycling. And since I have some strong feelings in that regard, it's a pleasure to welcome Mick to the show.
Vicki Nowicki is on a mission. She's determined to get folks on the road to self-reliance when it comes to their food sources. That's why she took the concept of Victory Gardens and put her own spin on it to come up with Liberty Gardens, complete with its own website. Of course, Vicki and husband Ron are not new to suburban agriculture and incorporating it into landscape, as witnessed by their landscape design business, The Land Office.
August 17, 2008
I did some radio on Thursday evening but it wasn't on WCPT 820AM. Paul Tukey, who I've interviewed on my program and who is the bright light of the SafeLawns.org campaign, asked me to be a guest on his web radio program, Safe Lawns and Landscapes. It was a free-wheeling conversation about organic lawn care, consumer attitudes and yes, even the Chicago Cubs. and you can link to the podcast HERE (look for Podcast #22). My thanks to Paul for the invitation.
Melinda Myers is another great garden communicator. Based in Wisconsin, she is seen on radio, TV, the Internet and in print. She recently launched a new Green Tips section on Melinda Myers.com, and features a "greet tip of the day" 365 days a year. How does she find the time?
Two of her books that might interest you are Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening book and her new Illinois Lawn Guide. Both are available at major bookstores and garden centers as well as at Amazon.com
If you're serious about saving energy in your home, whether you're planning to rehab, build or buy, the place to start is an energy audit. Corbett Lunsford, Director of Green Dream Group paid a visit to my humble abode this week to see where Kathleen and I were wasting resources and, of course, money.
One of the things Green Dream does is hook up a powerful fan to an outside door and pump air out of the house. This allows you to see exactly where drafts are occuring and where sealing will do the most good. It also lets you see where you have cobwebs and dust bunnies, but that's another matter.We learned a lot, believe me, and this will go a long way towards lowering our utilitiy bills this winter.
Some of the basic services that Green Dream Group provides:
- Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Energy Audits (EnergyStar Standards)
- Recommendations of Cost-Effective Home Improvements for Ergonomics and Comfort
- Referrals to Our Highly-Qualified Group Affiliates in Building Trades, Retail, and Maintenance
There's pest control. I ran into Rick Moskovitz at a the Green Home Fair at the Chicago Center for Green Technology in July. He intrigued me with his green approach to pest control. His company, A-Plus Pest Control, Inc., uses their own product called Plus Natural Enzymes, an organic, yeast based cleaner. If that isn't good enough for you, Rick tells me that it will even soften your skin. Now that's what I call pest control. There's more about the products Rick uses at www.plusnaturalsolutionsworldwide.com. To see a condensed version of one of the videos, go to www.getfave.com and type in the words Plus Natural.
You can contact entomologist George Manning at his own company, American Eagle Pest Elimination.
And then there's Dr. Bob Passovoy, who's not a pest at all. In fact, I welcome his visits, when he waxes poetic on things like Koi and water pumps. He's here this week to remind me that the Midwest Pond and Koi Society is having its
16th Annual Koi and Goldfish Show at the Darien Sportsplex, August 22-24.Don't forget that you can catch "The Water Garden" in Chicagoland Gardening Magazine, where Dr. Bob answers your questions about ponding.
August 10, 2008
Sometimes it takes a field trip. That’s what happened with me and the idea of ecological restoration. I’ve known Jack Pizzo for several years and have interviewed him a number of times, but I didn’t really get what he was up to until I visited his operation out in Leland, Illinois. The occasion was the twentieth anniversary of Pizzo & Associates and Jack took a group of us on a tour of the land he has transformed from farm to prairie.
It is magnificent.
Jack believes that we can and must change the world around us for the better and that it makes business as well as environmental sense.
Dr. Sarah Warren has many of the same goals, though she approaches things from the psychological side of things. She calls herself an “eco warrior” and she uses behavioral science to help people to make the changes necessary to green up their lives. You can find more at her website: www.ecoactionplan.org.
She’s also organizing what she calls The Spheres of Influence Salon, a live roundtable event followed by an intimate dinner with the experts during the Corporate Climate Response Conference on Navy Pier in September. For more information on this unique event, visit her website or email Dr. Sarah at DrSarah@ecoactionplan.org.
What can you say about The King? The man, the legend is spreading the gospel of green and I, for one, am glad to see it? Eco Elvis’s CD, “Burnin’ Globe” is available at his website: www.ecoelvis.com.
Speaking of performing, that’s what I’ll be doing this Thursday at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theatre, 77 E. Randolph. Once a month, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and Friends of the Parks present topics for discussion on what's new in the city and how citizens and visitors alike can creatively participate in the urban experience that makes Chicago special.
This week it’s me, doing my talk “What The Heck Are You Doing To My Yard?” where I teach you the kinds of questions that you should ask your landscapers and yard maintenance people.It’s free and open to the public. You can’t beat that. More info at http://www.fotp.org/events/creativeliving.asp.
August 3, 2008
Cathi Edman has been doing good for the Chicagoland community for a long time. And I'm not talking about the beat she covers for The Daily Herald. I'm talking about the thousands of pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables she collects each year for shelters and food pantries as part of the Giving Garden campaign ).
One little known aspect of Cathi's participation is that she is required to haul tens of thousands of pounds of produce in her very own Radio Flyer Wagon. Go ahead. Google it.
But while I kid Cathi about how hard she works, she isn't the only one. People like Debbie Walusiak from the Self Help Pantry and Closet of Des Plaines are out on the front lines, witnessing first-hand what food insecurity means in America.
So if you have a few spare vegetables this summer (hey, you can buy them in your favorite grocery store and donate them to the Giving Garden), pass them along to somebody who otherwise might not taste a ripe tomato very often.
Bill Aldrich is another hard worker (though he tries to hide it). As publisher of Chicagoland Gardening Magazine, he's one of my many bosses. No, it's not that there are a lot of bosses at CGM, it's just that I work a lot of different jobs. One of them is as columnist for Chicagoland Gardening. As I often say, I make stuff up and they pay me for it. Great gig.
Anyway, if you're a gardener and you've never picked up a copy of this terrific magazine, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU? Go online today and get yourself a subscription. (How did I do, Bill?)