Radio Interviews of the Chicago Botanic Garden

AddThis Feed Button   Gardening Tips with Lisa Hilgenberg

PHOTO: Lisa HilgenbergA weekly Saturday morning audio podcast of seasonal growing tips by Chicago Botanic Garden horticulturist Lisa Hilgenberg on newsradio WBBM. Get past tips online at chicago.cbslocal.com/audio/gardening-tips/.

Lisa Hilgenberg manages the 3.8 acre Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Leading a crew of 4 and a team of 30 horticulture volunteers, along with summer interns, she curates and interprets a collection of 500 edible plants, two orchards and designs and installs season annual displays. During the 2013 season, 35,000 vegetable grew in the Fruit & Vegetable garden, producing a harvest of 6,200 pounds.

A native Minnesotan, Lisa's love for vegetable farming comes honestly…her family emigrated from Norway and began farming over 130 years ago and they still manage the family's century farm.

Lisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in Geology and worked on certificates from the Joseph Regenstein School of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Professional Landscaping 1 and 2 and Ornamental Plant Identification and Garden Design.

PHOTO: Bird on cattail.

Restoring the Prairie State

Kayri Havens, the senior director of ecology and conservation at the Garden, Bill Glass, an ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service stationed at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington, and Petra Blix, an environmental activist from Trees for Life and the Urban Environmental Alliance talk about prairie restoration in the Chicago area.

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Afternoon Shift, May 11, 2015

 

PHOTO: Tomato sprouts.

Preparing Your garden For Spring

Eliza Fournier, the urban youth programs director at the Garden, joins The Afternoon Shift to answer gardening questions and give spring gardening tips.

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Afternoon Shift, March 17, 2015

 

 

 

 

PHOTO: Tomatoes

Community Programs Helping Chicago-Area Youths

Eliza Fournier, director of the Windy City Harvest Youth Program at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, talks about how the program services the Chicago community. Speakers include Rev. Johnny Banks, executive director of A Knock at Midnight, and Rev. Walter Jones, Associate Pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church and executive director of Fathers Who Care.

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Afternoon Shift, August 18, 2014

PHOTO: Kay Havens

Summer gardening with Chicago Botanic Garden's Eliza Fournier

In a brief Q&A, Eliza recommends fall crops to plant, tackles raising ginkgo from seed, using organic methods to treat for apple pests and diseases.

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Afternoon Shift, August 18, 2014

 

 

PHOTO: Kay Havens

EcoMyths: It's a myth that 'Green Thumbs' are born, not made

Lauren Umek, PhD candidate & Presidential Fellow of  Plant Biology and Conservation at Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Gardenand other experts join Kate Sackman from EcoMyths Alliance to tell us why soil matters in cultivating your green thumb.

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Worldview, April 29, 2014

PHOTO: Kay Havens

Which trees will thrive in chicago in 2050?

Dr. Andrew Bell, curator of woody plants, talks about his study, Trees for 2050, which examines which trees now growing in the Chicago region will be able to thrive as we move into the 21st century.

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The Mike Nowak Show, September 24, 2013

 

PHOTO: Tomatoes

Gardening 101 with the Chicago Botanic Garden

Eliza Fournier, manager of the school and community gardens department at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, examines climate change's impact on gardening. What are your questions?

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Afternoon Shift, May 22, 2013

PHOTO: Kay Havens

Project Budburst's citizen science tracks Climate Change

Plants are shifting their bloom times to much earlier in the year for northern climates. Is it a sign of climate change? What drives bloom times of plants?

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Afternoon Shift, March 5, 2012