See you on the radio Sunday

While you are lolling around in your bathrobe Sunday morning, you might as well turn on the radio. I'll be substitute hosting the Mike Nowak Show this week from 9 to 11 a.m. on WCPT-AM 820 and FM 92.7 (north),

92.5 9 (west), & 99.9FM (south). Mike seems to think he has something better to do.

This will be a heavy gardening show. My guests will include Glenda Daniel of Openlands, talking about the 20th anniversary of TreeKeepers; Breanne Heath of Growing Home, talking about composting and what to do with all those soon-to-fall leaves; and Ed Lyon from the University of Wisconsin, talking about bulbs, especially bulbs that are resistant to animals. At least somewhat resistant.

Call in with your questions to 773-838-9278, or post on Twitter to @mikenow or @chicagogardener (that's me).

TreeKeepers is the highly successful and much-imitated volunteer urban forestry program. (Conflict of interest alert: I'm TreeKeeper No. 973. I have the T-shirt.) Glenda will talk about how the program came to be and about the 20th anniversary celebration to be held Sunday afternoon in Columbus Park, and will also hold forth on the proper care of trees (she doesn't like this) and take questions.

Breanne will help us understand how composting happens, what goes on in the compost pile over the winter, how to make the most of your leaves (and your neighbors' leaves) and what the heck is that thing in the picture. She'll also talk a bit about what Growing Home does, providing transitional job training in urban agriculture.

Ed, who is director of the Allen Centennial Gardens up there in Madison, will discuss which animals like bulbs, what possible defense you might have against them and what bulbs are somewhat less likely to become some furry thing's afternoon snack. He'll also field any other questions might come up about bulbs.

And of course if you have any other garden questions to ask, call in and we'll field them or fake it. Heather Frey, intrepid producer, will be doing all the technical things and bailing me out of whatever rhetorical or legal difficulties I may get into. (Last time I was on the show I got stifled for using about four of George Carlin's seven words and endangering Mike's FCC license. But I'm trying to clean up my act.)

Altogether, we have striven (sorry, lapsed English major) to put together a show that will be sufficiently entertaining and informative to keep you more or less awake on Sunday morning.

So remember: Sunday, 9 to 11 a.m. on WCPT-AM 820 and FM 92.7 (north),
92.5 9 (west), & 99.9FM (south). Call during the show to 773-838-9278, or post on Twitter to @mikenow or @chicagogardener. The show also streams live (find the link here) to a worldwide audience including one guy who called in from Dusseldorf, Germany, last week. If it was worth his time to listen at whatever ungodly hour it was in Dusseldorf, Germany, it might be worth yours.

All contents of this post are copyright Beth Botts. Feel free to link or share a brief excerpt with a link, but please do not reproduce photos or any other part of this blog without my express permission.