Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop are the authors of Building a Better World in Your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys. It might be called an essential extreme permaculture primer. Garden expert Melinda Myers returns to the show to talk about keeping your plants healthy in summer, and to promote the lesson of patience in the garden.

Nicole Virgil returns to the show as she continues her fight to grow vegetables in a hoop house in her own, Elmhurst, Illinois backyard. Debbie Trueblood from the Illinois Park and Recreation Association reports on their second annual Unplug Illinois Day. Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, have advice on mid-season veggie crops. Doug Taron, PhD of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum says it's a great year for fireflies and reports on raising Baltimore Checkerspots on his porch during the pandemic.

Liz Kirkwood from For Love of Water (FLOW) and Mitch McNeil of Surfrider Chicago talk about shutting down the Enbridge 5 oil pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. Mary Phillips, Senior Director of Conservation for the National Wildlife Federation Garden for Wildlife program, and Jill Utrup from Region 3 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Minnesota talk about how to make your garden pollinator friendly.

Entomologist Dr. May Berenbaum from the University of Illinois explores the question of an insect apocalypse on our planet. Bill Stengel of Summit Responsible solutions has answers for your mosquito, flea and tick problems. Jim Elliott and Tinamarie Hernandez from Diveheart explain how they make the lives of veterans and the disabled richer via scuba diving.

KC Tomato and Craig LeHoullier return to the show to participate in Tomatomania II. If they can't answer your tomato questions, nobody can. Karen Lehman from the Chicago Region Food System Fund says they are looking to provide grants to organizations that are responding to the immediate pandemic impacts on communities in Chicago and on food producers, processors, and distributors.

Part of the national conversation about the death of George Floyd involves how social justice is tied to environmental justice. We welcome Veronica Kyle from Faith in Place, scholar and activist Mila K. Marshall and Michael Howard from Eden Place Nature Center to talk about how we move forward. Then, four businesses from our Keep Eating Healthy campaign stop by to talk about what the COVID Spring season has been like.

Skeet from Bartlett Tree Experts, one of our favorite arborists (we know many), returns to the show to talk about the effect of heavy spring rains and sudden cold snaps on our trees. Robert Luo of Mi Terro is creating sustainable clothing from upcycled milk and he tells us how how they're doing it.

Tom Ogren, who has been studying how to create allergy-free gardens for more than 25 years, returns to the show to talk about the explosion of pollen and allergies as the world heats up. Bob Bertog of Bertog Landscape Co. and Roger Tietz. from Gillen Marine Construction are working together to prevent beach erosion in the face of unprecedented high Great Lakes water levels.

Can farmers markets open safely during the COVID-19 and still survive? Janie Maxwell, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association hopes to answer that question. Dennis Warnecke from Tainio Biologicals explains why soil health is all about biology. Sean Ruane of Chicago's Advocates for Urban Agriculture announces the second round of COVID-19 Farmer Support Grants.

Alyssa Hartmann, Executive Director of the Artisan Grain Collaborative, and Ellen King, co-owner and head baker of Hewn in Evanston, talk about the Neighbor Loaves program to bring bread to people who need it. Backyard birders became citizen scientists on the annual Global Big Day on Saturday, May 9. Josh Engel of Red Hill Birding, writer Sheryl DeVore and birder Pam Karlson join us to celebrate the occasion.