Roots Watering Hole Podcast Series

This is the October 2023 Food Literacy Podcast episode. The weather is cooling and it is time to prepare for the winter though it may seem strange you also want to prepare for the 2024 growing season. Check out the episode and accompanying show notes for what we believe are pertinent issues for October.  Check out this article by the Piedmont Master Gardeners about nutrient density and leafy green...

September is here and fall is upon us. How quickly things turn as it seems that May and June were just a few days ago. See the show notes for more details and you will find a link to the September 2022 Garden Education episode for information still relevant in 2023. Thank you for listening in! I will start by reminding our listeners that we are no longer doing a strictly gardening podcast, We shif...

This is the August Food Literacy Podcast done in partnership with the urban gardening and farming community in Chicago and posted via Chicago Grows Food. There is still time to plant certain crops for a fall garden and harvest, check the show notes for more details... August 2023 Food Literacy Podcast Show Notes Planting for a fall crop? Do not be deterred, go for it. In our home garden, we have c...

Short and sweet food literacy podcast episode for July 2023. Topics include what to plant in July as well as what seeds to start indoors for those interested in fall gardening. Food literacy topics include food fraud and the high cost of food, the health impacts of ultra-processed foods on our health, and eggs as an example of the confusion often swirling around food, health, and "healthy&quo...

June in Chicago is the kickoff of the primary gardening season in Chicago. In this episode, we address some of the concerns of participants in the Chicago Grows Food constellation about fabric grow bag and container vegetable gardening.  Special thanks to Elizabeth Berkeley, executive director of Chicago Grows Food, Marjorie Kersten graduate student at UIC, and Taylor Swenski graduate student at D...

Hello, food literacy podcast listeners. Please find and listen to the May 2023 episode. You will receive a lot of information this month including an episode on soil done in session with our co-host and co-producer soil enthusiast and soil scientist Dr. Akilah Martin.  Rather than essentially repeating ourselves you will receive the encore episode of the May 2022 garden education podcast that has...

Self-described soil enthusiast and soil scientist Dr, Akilah Martin is in her co-host and co-producer seat for a lively conversation about soil. Dr. Akilah is not as expansive as she could be regarding soil, and the time allotted is not enough. However. we endeavored to provide some useful information and I think we hit our mark. As always I refer you to the show notes accompanying the audio for m...

It is April here in Chicago and excitement is at a fever pitch in anticipation of the gardening season for our community and home gardeners. This is the first installment of the April food literacy podcast. This episode is short but the second installment will be devoted primarily to soil with two programs featuring our co-host and co-producer, soil enthusiast and scientist, Dr. Akilah Martin. In...

We are kicking off the gardening season with some tips and things to consider fro the upcoming gardening season. To deepen our discussion about food literacy we will be providing links for general cooking as well as using herbs and spices to create tasty meals. Food Literacy Podcast – Garden Education Show Notes   In addition to the March 2023 food literacy podcast find a link to a clip and show n...

This is a very short trailer and announcement about Leah Penniman's new book out February 28, 2023. The full episode of our session won't drop until May 2023 when Dr. Akilah and I will devote the entire month to Black farmers and gardeners. Leah's new book is so exciting we wanted to let our audience and networks know that is coming out soon. Please share with your networks and cons...

Well, spring is on the mind of many people here in the northern hemisphere, especially here in Chicago. This particular episode is devoted to getting our home veggie gardeners off to a rousing start by planning for the upcoming gardening season. While the audio portion is great the show notes will be full of information and resources to kick off the season. Let us kick off the 2023 gardening seaso...

If we are paying attention to what is going on in the world the level of disasters from wind, water, and terrestrial forces emergency planning rises to the level of concern for everyone. Natural Disaster Program Manager Patricia Fontanet Rodriguez, kicks off a series of podcasts on emergency planning that will be done in 2023 under the leadership of Dr. Akilah Martin, co-host and co-producer of th...

We are kicking off the 2023 food literacy podcast series with the resources you will need to create a system to reach your food literacy and healthy lifestyle goals. Many of us hear the term "food as medicine' but what does it mean well the is no standard or concise definite according to Medical News Today . The Center for Food as Medicine report provides some in-depth information about...

Stay Safe and Well While Enjoying the Holiday of Your Choice! Happy New Year and We Will Be Back in 2023... This is the December Food Literacy podcast episode. You will receive a bonus episode an interview with the new executive director of Chicago Grows Food. There is virtually garden education-related information in this episode but we will hit the ground running with information pertinent to ki...

Listen in to our interview with Elizabeth Berkeley the executive director of Chicago Grows Food. Chicago Grows Food was formed as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic and operating since 2020 and will have our 3-year anniversary in March of 2023. Elizabeth will give you an overview of CGF and what the future outlook is for 2023 and beyond. I am admittedly biased about Chicago Grows Food and the eff...

This Roots Watering Hole Podcast is done in support of the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at UIC, the Center for Urban Transformation, and you the listener interested in improving the health and well-being of our families and communities. This episode represents the first foray into a new format where we provide much more information than through our garden education version. Instead, no...

Podcasts evolve and this is the case for this monthly podcast from a garden education podcast for in particular, home gardeners in the Chicago area to a podcast focusing on all aspects of the food system. Why? Well, because we want to enhance our communities' ability to have a secure food supply, improve diet quality, mitigate social determinants of health and health disparities, and support...

Fall gardening season and even winter gardening possibilities are upon us. Get ready for that and get ready for the spring 2023 season as well. Spring will be here before you know it and you will find that gardening (and farming) is a continuum... There is still time to grow more crops by utilizing varieties that may be sown from seed and have a short period until maturity, watch this video by MIg...

The full episode with ecologist, community organizer, and wisdom/dharma teacher Toni Anderson. It is hardly a stretch to say that we love Toni Anderson the "Curator of Internal & External Ecologies". It is not a stretch to say that we think Sacred Keepers is a wonderful program and that we wish there were more opportunities like this for youth in Chicago and beyond.  We only have one...