The Mike Nowak Show Podcasts

Special Broadcast: "Our Community Garden" from Family Focus Our Place, 2010 Dewey in Evanston, sponsored by CEDA. Conversations about the Health & Wellness Fair and Community Garden Unveiling.

Guests: Growing Home Executive Director Harry Rhodes talks about their 8th Annual Benefit; Bruce Pinsler from Galaxie Construction, primary sponsor of WCPT's Ultimate Backyard Makeover; Mike gives away a pair of tix to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010.

Live Broadcast from Pesche's Garden Center in Des Plaines. Guests: Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Marc Miller talks about the initiative with Chicago Wilderness called Leave No Child Inside Month; Milo Shammas, Founder & Formulator, Dr. Earth, Inc.; Wally Schmidtke (a.k.a. "Dr. Wally") from Pesche's.

Guests: Ken Haller, former president of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association in a discussion about Colony Collapse Disorder; Steve Reick from the Fertisorb Company, Amy Gulick, photographer for the book Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest, Rick Moskovitz, President, A-Plus Pest Control, Inc .

Special Broadcast: "Growing In Austin" from the Third Unitarian Church in the Austin Neighborhood of Chicago. A discussion of Urban Agriculture issues with a wide-ranging panel of experts: urban organizers and urban farmers.

Guests: Julia Govis, author of Who's Poisoning Our Children? and Josh Mogerman of the the Natural Resources Defense Council talking about Atrazine in our water;; Beth Botts, who has written about alternatives to plastic pots in her blog, Growing in Chicago and Drew Effron, product manager for Ball Innovations, a part of Ball Horticultural Company, which is working on these alternatives. Beth also talks about the inaugural "Beer Under Glass" Micro Brew Event to benefit the Garfield Park Conservatory.

Live Broadcast from Pesche's Garden Center in Des Plaines. Guests: Milo Shammas, Founder & Formulator, Dr. Earth, Inc.; frog monitor Matt Hokanson; Marjorie Hess from Gary Comer Youth Center about CEDA's"My Backyard Garden: 'Keepin It Fresh" contest for students from grades 8 through 12.

Guests: Dan Schnitzer, Director of Sustainability and Operations, Academy for Global Citizenship; and the Rappe Family: Scott, Grace, Matthew and Nicholas, who spent an entire year sorting and weighing all of the waste they created.

Guests: Todd Jacobson and Deirdre Toner from Perennials in Focus; 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore talks about his Chicago Clean Power Ordinance with Faith Bugel, senior attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC);32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack discusses the implications of privatizing Chicago's water system with Jon Keesecker of Food and Water Watch and Baxanhall from U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group).

Guests: Jim Slanina and Linda Basinger from Opus Environmental; Loyola University's Summur Roberts talks about next week's North Lake Shore Community Earth Day 2010: Recipe for a healthy planet; Mike previews Tuesday's rally to support the introduction of 49th Alderman Joe Moore's Chicago Clean Power Ordinance in City Council.

Guests: Chad Bliss and Justin Quinones from Cob Connection; Sarah Abu-Absi, WRD Environmental Consultant for the Chicago Department of Environment on "Tweet Home Chicago" competition.

Guests: Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, author and editor of Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: good science - practical application; Kerrie Rosenthal and Carol Niec from The Seedkeeper Company; Jack Pizzo of Pizzo & Associates Ecological Restoration.

Guests: Jennifer Brennan, horticulture information specialist at The Chalet, sits in for the entire show. Alicia Ontiveros (@EcoChicago) of EcoChicago talks about an EcoChat on her website tomorrow about this Saturday's Earth Hour.

Guests: Anna Pavord, author of the gorgeous book, Bulb; blogger and Twitterer LaManda Joy, a.k.a. @TheYarden, who talks about "The Lost Victory Garden Seed List of 1943"; Paul Tukey, founder of SafeLawns.org discusses the Chicago premiere of his documentary, "A Chemical Reaction" with Mike and Steve Neumann from Clean Air Lawn Care Chicago.

Guests: Authors, bloggers, Tweeters, podcasters and kibitzers Jean Ann Van Krevelen (@JeanAnnVK) and Amanda Thomsen (@KissMyAster) talk about their new book, Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food. We even sneak in some conversation about the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. Local Foodies Jim Slama and Vicki Nowicki preview FamilyFarmed Expo. The continuing saga, "To Dump or Not To Dump" in DeKalb County continues. Dan Kenney of Stop the DeKalb County Mega-Dump is back to report on the week-long public hearing about whether to expand the county's landfill.