The Mike Nowak Show

Latest Episodes:

A Taste of Honey Varietals Nov 04, 2018

Show notes

Carrie Schloss wrote The Asheville Bee Charmer Cookbook and visits the WCGO studios to talk recipes featuring honey. Jerry Gudauskas of the Illinois Beekeepers Association talks about the insects that make the honey. Mike and Peggy look at environmental stories of the past few weeks.

Learning to Love Bats Oct 28, 2018

Show notes

As we celebrate Bat Week, Indiana State University's Joy O'Keefe tells us why this mammal is so important and so misunderstood. Kim Hankins previews the Green Living Expo at McHenry County College. Madison Hopkins from the Better Government Association follows up on her wave-making article about recycling in Chicago.

We Are the Champions Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

On the eve of his appearance at the ILCA IMPACT Conference, landscape architect Thomas Rainer talks to Mike and Peggy about his ideas about plant communities, and how to keep those communities thriving. Representatives of four gardens that were recognized by the Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards offer some insights into keeping the City vibrant, sustainable and beautiful.

Mark and Marcus: Music and Sustainability Oct 07, 2018

Show notes

Folk musician Mark Dvorak and Stephanie Schrodt stop by the studio to promote next week's Folktober Fest in Oak Park. Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, have early fall tips. In the advance of the ILCA's IMPACT Conference, Marcus de la fleur talks about the benefit of putting native plants in your home's landscape, and the difficulty of finding companies that will maintain them.

Midewin: Where the Buffalo Roam Sep 29, 2018

Show notes

Mike and Peggy broadcast live from Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, just southwest of Chicago near Wilmington, Illinois, and talk to range of guests about one of the great restoration projects in the history of the planet.

Helianthus! Sep 23, 2018

Show notes

The cast and crew of Green Scene's play "Helianthus!" come to the WCGO studios to talk about this theatrical history of the plant we call a sunflower. Gary Oppenheimer of AmpleHarvest.org is back on the final day of Food Waste Weekend to promote the productive distribution of excess food in America.

Chicken Enthusiasts and Monarch Supporters Sep 16, 2018

Show notes

Members of the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts promote the 2018 Windy City Coop & Eco-Yard Tour...and provide some musical entertainment. Mike test drives an electric vehicle in nine minutes. Doug Taron, PhD from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum reports on large numbers of migrating monarch butterflies.

The Power of Dirt; Hydrangea Help Sep 09, 2018

Show notes

Horticultural expert Melinda Myers who was inducted into the the Hall of Fame for GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators in 2017, talks late season garden care, including what to do with hydrangeas. Dr. Jack Gilbert, author of Dirt Is Good: The Advantage of Germs for Your Child's Developing Immune System, explains his work as Faculty Director for the Microbiome Center at the University of Chicago.

Why Recycle? Sep 02, 2018

Show notes

Marta Keane, who is Recycling Program Specialist for Will County, IL, just outside of Chicago, engages in a lively discussion with Mike and Peggy about what's right and what's wrong with recycling in America and across the globe. Rich and Susan Eyre talk about their thirty-five years as owner/operators of Rich’s Foxwillow Pines Nursery in Woodstock, IL and their final Hosta Happening to benefit Mano a Mano International Partners, a small yet powerful organization working to improve lives in rural Bolivia.

Seaweed Chronicles and Trout Tales Aug 26, 2018

Show notes

Susan Hand Shetterly is the author of a just-released book, Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water's Edge, about the promise of seaweed as a food source and the perils of over-harvesing. Marvin Strauch of Trout Unlimited and Chicago Public School teacher Joe Lentino promote the Trout in the Classroom program.

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