The Mike Nowak Show Podcasts

Guests: Ross McRoy from Enviro-Log explains how his company is keeping wax-coated cardboard out of landfills by creating cleaner burning fireplace logs; new farmer Kim Marsin of Sweet Home Organics talks about how she and her partner Rachel Reklaue commute to work on their farm that's part of an incubator program; Mike and producer Heather Frey talk about green holiday gifts before they perform his annual 10-minute, 2-person version of "It's a Wonderful Life," (with a little help from listener Jim Solum.)

Beth Botts fills in for Mike. Guests: Jean Bragdon from Lurvey's gives advice on winter houseplant care. Shawn Kingzette from The Care of Trees weighs in on the advantages and drawbacks of live holiday trees; Steve Sullivan , curator of urban ecology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park runs Project Squirrel--do the squirrels know about this? And Beth tries to teach her listeners how to be citizen scientists through programs like Project BudBurst , Monarch Watch and CoCoRaH.

Guests: Board member Scott Schecter from Foresight Design Initiatve previews Monday's Chicago mayoral forum about sustainability issues; Bryan Ogden interviews Mike for his blog/website Metropolitan Gardening...while being interviewed by Mike; Sheri Doyel from Angelic Organics Learning Center talks about their Farmer Training Initiative and other ways that farmers can be mentored by other farmers.

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In the second hour of November 28, 2010 edition of The Mike Nowak Show, the holiday caroling group The Frozen Robins (of which Mike is a member, in the interest of full disclosure) get loose and funny.The highlight is their holiday "tribute" to Chicago mayoral candidate and former Obama Administration Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Guests: Maria Anna Rafac and Jeanne Phelan from Joliet Community College talk about sustainability efforts at that institution, The Frozen Robins threaten Mike's radio career and skewer Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel at the same time, and Mr. Brown Thumb tries valiantly to get serious about gardening events and news. Nice try, MBT.

Guests: Thom Kraak and Shawn Kingzette from The Care of Trees explain how to decorate your outdoor trees and shrubs without harming them; Mariani Landscape's Marni Wilson offers some tips for great holiday containers; Tom Spaulding of the Illinois Local Food, Farms & Jobs Council talks about the importance of keeping food dollars in Illinois; Mike and producer Heather Frey start a firestorm by suggesting that there is only one way to pronounce the word "Poinsettia."

Guests: Mike Mitchell, Executive Director of the Illinois Recycling Association, previews America Recycles Day; Designers Mike Repkin of Urban Habitat Chicago and Nick Petty, along with other members of the Joy Garden at Northside College Preparatory High talk about their 2010 Chicago Gardener of the Year Award; Lois Vitt Sale lets you know how best to participate in GreenBuild 2010, which comes to Chicago this week; in the Good Growing segment, Martha Boyd of Angelic Organics Learning Center talks about the growing popularity of raising chickens in urban and suburban areas.

Guests: Erika Dornfeld from Faith in Place talks about upcoming Winter Farmers Markets in and around Chicago; best-selling author Amy Stewart discusses her book Wicked Plants, and explains how plants can kill or or maim you, tear down your garage, or get you high. "Good Growing" segment: Tracey Hall of Angelic Organics Learning Center describes her upcoming class "Farm Dreams," where she teaches people the basics of running a farm.

Guests: Arborist Guy Sternberg, who created Starhill Forest Arboretum in Petersburg, Illinois, talks about his class, "Cemetery Botany," which he taught at The Morton Arboretum on Halloween Day; Jack Darin from the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club and Max Muller from Environment Illinois discuss their respective organizations' endorsements of Illinois candidates in this Tuesday's election; Mike introduces the first installment of "Good Growing," with correspondent Mr. Brown Thumb.

Guests: Benjamin Cox, Executive Director of Friends of the Forest Preserves (Cook County) talks about how the November 2 elections will change the direction of forest preserve management; Julie Rizzo explains how her company, Recycled Granite, saves thousands of pounds of the material from ending up in landfills; Scott Kuntz of Old House Gardens gives some advice on planting bulbs and discusses how he is transforming vacant urban lots to colorful bulb bed for his business.

Guests: CMAP Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn talks about the launch of Go To 2040; Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. discusses the release of the film Living Downstream, based on her book of the same name, with director Chanda Chevannes; the creation of the Chicago area national wildlife refuge Hackmatack is the mission of Cindy Skrukrud, a member of Friends of Hackmatack.

Co-Host: Beth Botts, of Growing in Chicago, award-winning garden writer, speaker and sometime host of this show. Guests: Mick Dumke of the Chicago News Cooperative; Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward, who created the 49th Ward Green Corps; Henry Henderson, Director of the Midwest Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Chicago, the founding commissioner of the Department of the Environment for the City of Chicago and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post regarding envrionmental issues; Erma Tranter, president of Friends of the Parks, (FOTP); and Christy Webber of Christy Webber Landscapes, which has maintained some of the most prestigious Chicago landmarks, such as Millennium Park and O'Hare and Midway airports.

Guests: Rianna and John Caravette from Earth Wind And Solar Energy, LLC recap Saturday's Illinois Solar Energy Tour; Jennifer Brennan from The Chalet in Wilmette answers gardening questions with Mike; a5's John Harris previews next week's GreenTown Chicago conference at Columbia College.

Guests: Lisa Albrecht of Solar Service, Inc. and Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) board member promotes next Saturday's Illinois Solar Energy Tour; Mike Repkin, Dave Hampton and Molly Meyer talk about their work with Urban Habitat Chicago and the evolution of roof top gardens; chicken aficionado Michelle Thoma previews next Sunday's Hen-apalooza Chicagoland Chicken Coop Tour.